A Hyuuga's Honor
by Elphaba818
Summary: Mulan AU - Hinata Hyuuga is the failed heiress of the Hyuuga clan, but when her injured father is drafted to fight in the Fourth Great Ninja War, she disguises herself as a boy to take his place. As she fights to regain her lost honor for her clan, she is enraptured by her blonde, blue-eyed captain, who reminds her of someone from her past. NaruHina
1. The Hyuuga Clan

**Hello and welcome to my very first Naruto fanfiction! This is my first time writing fanfiction for an anime, so I'm very excited! I hope I do justice to the original story of both Naruto and Mulan, and that all of you, my dear readers, will love it!**

 **To those of you reading this who are fans of my Liberty Belle series, I am so, so sorry I haven't updated in so long! There have been many major events that have happened in my life since I last updated last June, but I can assure you that the series is not abandoned! Perhaps when I finally see the new Captain America: Civil War movie when it's released in May, it will inspire my creative juices to start flowing again for it. I can't give you an estimate as to when it will be updated, as I will now be working on this as well as another Naruto fanfic I want to get posted on here very soon, but I assure you all that it will eventually be continued.**

 **NaruHina is my absolutely favorite pairing on Naruto, and I'm so happy that they've become actual canon in the Narutoverse! This story is dedicated to all those out there who knew all along that Naruto and Hinata would eventually end up together! NaruHina forever!**

 **I'd especially like to give a shout out to my good friend and beta reader for this story, Silken Danser! Thank you for all your support! I hope you love this story as much as I love your GaaraxOC fic Crash Into Me and Burn With Me!**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Please, read and review when you're done!**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

 **Chapter One: The Hyuuga Clan**

Asuma Sarutobi deeply inhaled the toxic fumes of his cigarette as he walked along the walls of the Great Wall of Japan. It was late at night, and he had volunteered to step in and take tonight's overnight watch since the usual guard had taken the night off due to illness.

His eyes scanned the dark horizon line for any sign of trouble, and then he sighed before taking another puff of his cigarette. This might be a tiring job and he'd rather be in bed with his pregnant wife Kurenai right now, but he was proud to be doing this. Not just for honor, but for his father, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage and leader of the Land of Fire. Ever since the five major elemental nations of Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, and Lightning had decided to join together to form one powerful, militarily advantageous country, the minor country of Sound had been jealous. When the Kage's of the major lands fused together to create the new country of Japan, they had initially invited a few other minor countries to join them, such as the Land of Tea and the Land of Waves. The more forces that were added into making Japan, the better, but the one country that did not receive an invitation was the Land of Sound.

The Five Kage's hadn't wanted the people of Otogakure in their new nation. For one, the ninjas from Oto were said to be quite merciless in their techniques. Not that the Kage's wanted to have less ninjas in their ranks for the new country, but the ninjas from the Sound were said to sometimes… butcher their enemies, and those that they spared were sometimes sent back to the capital of Otogakure to either become all but bed slaves for disgusting nobles or, worse, sent directly to the leader of Otogakure as new subjects for his latest experiments. That particular man was the other reason why the Kage's didn't want the Sound involved in their new Japan. A rumor whispering throughout the five major nations was that the new leader in Oto was none other than the evil Orochimaru, one of the most vile, twisted men alive today, and a missing-nin from the capitol city of Konohagakure in the Land of Fire. He was as slick as a snake when slipping his way out of dangerous situations, and he was one of the most powerful ninja in the world, not to mention one of the most evil and dangerous. None of the Kage's wanted anything to do with a country that had him as their leader.

So far though, things had been quiet tonight. Not a single alarming thing to be seen on the dark, moonless horizon. It was a rather uneventful shift. That was good for Asuma, especially since he was half-sure that his comrade's 'illness' was really just a clever way of saying he simply wanted a night off from guard duty. He'd have to remember tomorrow to tell him off if that was really the case. He may have volunteered to take the late shift tonight, but doing so caused him to lose time with his wonderful wife, and talking to her ever-growing belly before bed.

Asuma smiled lightly as he thought about his unborn child. Somehow, due to the love he had for his beloved Kurenai and the love she had for him in return, a new life had been created, one that his whole life now circled around despite having never met him or her yet. It didn't matter to him whether the child would be a boy or a girl, he loved him or her already, but secretly, he was hoping it would be a boy. A boy he could teach the ways of the life of shinobi to. He could just imagine it now: a little boy with the perfect mixture of his and Kurenai's traits, following after him and begging him to teach him how to throw a kunai or to teach him his first jutsu. But if it was a girl… if it was a girl, he would love his daughter and spoil her rotten every chance he got, but he'd still be a bit disappointed; because as she grew up, she'd have to spend more time with Kurenai instead of him, training to become a proper lady worthy enough to strike a good match with a matchmaker. Proper ladies did not become ninjas. That was men's work. Proper ladies tended to the housework, managed the children, and did whatever they could to please their husbands. He'd lose the chance to teach his child his ninja style if the child was a girl, so he was hoping beyond hope that their child would be a boy.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a small noise from somewhere behind him, and he turned. At first, he saw nothing but dark shadows dancing in the firelight of the nearby torches from the small signal post a few feet away from him, but on careful inspection, he realized that there was something looming in the darkness. A pair of small yellow eyes, hovering near the stone ground. Then the eyes moved closer, and Asuma saw that the eyes belonged to that of a small snake. It flicked its slimy pink tongue as it stared directly at Asuma, hissing lightly.

Asuma scratched his head around the metallic forehead protector tied securely to his forehead. As all ninjas originating from the Land of Fire, upon his forehead protector was the emblem of the Land of Fire's capitol city of Konohagakure, a leaf with a swirl design etched directly into the center. He stared back at the snake, thoroughly puzzled. What was a snake doing on the Great Wall? How did it get up here in the first place?

There was a sudden flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, and Asuma turned just in time to see and dodge an attack from a darkly clothed Sound Ninja wielding a kunai. He could tell just from a quick glance that the ninja hailed from the Land of Sound due to his own forehead protector with his own country's capitol emblem: the traditional symbol of a single musical note imprinted in the exact center of the metal. Asuma pulled a kunai of his own out of the weapons pouch on his leg, and exchanged parrying blows with the enemy ninja for a few short moments before successfully embedding his knife straight through the attacker's heart, killing him instantly. But he had no time to celebrate, as he suddenly caught wind of other Sound Ninjas suddenly running up the wall with nothing but their feet, channeling their chakra in order to climb the stone structure without the need for ropes or other tools.

As quick as a flash, Asuma dropped his cigarette and dashed toward the ladder leading up to the nearest watch tower a few feet away. "We're under attack! Light the signal!" he shouted loudly, hoping one of his fellow allied shinobi would hear him and light their large oil pot fires to signal to the country that they were being invaded.

He managed to reach the wooden ladder and was just beginning to climb up, when the door beside it flew open with a loud bang, and more Sound Ninjas zipped out. Upon seeing Asuma climbing up to prepare the distress signal, they immediately leapt into action. A number of them pulled out gleaming katanas and began attacking the wooden rungs of the ladder in an effort to make it break apart, while others threw a number of kunai knives right at Asuma to force him to fall.

The brave Konoha shinobi successfully managed to dodge all but a few kunai, which were now firmly lodged into his back and caused him to grunt in pain with every shift of his body, and was able to climb all the way to the top of the watch tower before the ladder broke away underneath him. He seized hold of the nearest flaming torch, and bolted toward the large oil pot in the center of the airy space. As he moved to throw it into the giant fire starter, however, a dark form suddenly leaped over the wall, and landed on the opposite side of the pot before him.

It was a rather tall man with almost translucent-looking pale flesh and straight black hair that nearly reached his waist. He had a long, narrow face with rather pronounced cheekbones, and his eyes were pure gold with two black slits in the exact center of them, with purple markings painted around his eyelids. He was grinning wickedly at Asuma, and Asuma could tell that his teeth were sharpened to the point that they nearly resembled fangs, and from what he could tell of his pink tongue that was smacking the sides of his lips in what could be considered almost giddy pleasure, it was forked in the middle and very, very long, almost like a snake. On his left wrist, there was a very intricate tattoo that resembled that of a snake as well, but it was almost hidden by the plain gray garb he wore with a black polo shirt underneath. He was also sporting black ninja pants that were tied off with bandages around the ankles to keep from catching on anything as he moved, a thick purple rope belt that tied off in a large knot behind his back, a threatening katana in a sheath at his waist, black ninja sandals, and blue tomoe-shaped earrings.

The small snake that Asuma had seen before on the lower level of the pathway on the Great Wall slithered up the side of the watch tower until it was at the same level as Asuma and the villain, and then slithered right up the intruder's body until it was able to drape its entire scaly body comfortably around the man's shoulders. The man chuckled when the snake came to rest on his shoulders, and he looked away from Asuma for a moment to stroke the creature's head.

While he had personally never met this man before, Asuma knew right away who this was. There was no doubt whatsoever in his mind.

Orochimaru the Snake Summoner. The greatest traitor to ever hail from Konoha, the leader of the Sound Nation, and his father's former student.

Asuma was positive that the only reason the Sound Ninjas were attacking this particular section in the Great Wall on this particular night was because Orochimaru had somehow found out he, the only son of his former sensei, would be taking up the lookout at this watch point tonight. Orochimaru was an absolutely evil and psychotic man that loved to make people suffer as he tortured them, and although it was a well known fact that he had plans to conquer all of Japan, he especially wanted to make his father suffer. And he would start with Asuma's death.

He would never see his father, his beloved wife, his elder sister, and niece and nephew again. He would never get the opportunity to even meet his unborn child, or even find out whether or not it was a boy or a girl as he had only moments ago been contemplating. This spot on the Great Wall would be where he drew his dying breath, but not before he did his duty to protect not only his wonderful family, but every other person in this country as well.

With a determined yell, he threw the torch in his hand into the large oil pot, and the entire thing lit up in a split second into a large, crackling fire.

Upon seeing the distress signal, every other watch tower along the Great Wall being manned by other allied shinobi one by one began to also light up their oil pot fires, silently passing the word along that the country had been invaded by Orochimaru and his army of ninjas from the Hidden Sound. The news would reach his father, family, and every other Kage and their families in the Imperial City by dawn.

Orochimaru watched as this happened silently, his smile never once leaving his face.

"Now all of Japan knows you're here," Asuma growled threateningly.

Orochimaru turned back to him, and his maniacal smirk only seemed to grow. Wordlessly, he reached over to the flag pole that was proudly waving the new national flag for the country of Japan: a simple white backdrop with a red circle in the middle. The pole had been constructed from very sturdy wood, but the snake traitor easily broke it with a simple twist of his wrist. He let the flag hover over the flames, taking great pleasure in watching the fabric burn before tossing the pole into the fire. Then he drew his infamous sword Kusanagi.

"Perfect," he hissed.

The silver blade slashed through the air, and pierced straight through Asuma's chest.

* * *

The following morning, deep in the heart of the Imperial Palace of the Imperial City, the doors to the Five Kage Throne Room flew open, and the General of the Allied Shinobi Forces as well as the possible Fourth Hokage in the not too far away future, Minato Namikaze, made his way into the regal room, walking at a swift, but still respectable pace. He had a thick mop of spiky yellow hair that stuck out in every direction, and bright blue eyes which were currently narrowed at the thought of the grim news he had to give to the five leaders of the country as well as their respective families. Having hailed from the Land of Fire and being born in the Konoha capitol, his Leaf forehead protector was tied with blue cloth around his forehead, and he also wore the traditional green flak jacket with chainmail armor that almost every ninja in Konoha wore and a pair of blue pants tied off with bandages at the ankles. He also sported a short-sleeved, long, white overcoat with red flame designs at the bottom. All in all, he looked very powerful.

He was accompanied by his two most trusted ninja warriors after his only son and heir to the Namikaze clan.

The first was his own student, Kakashi Hatake, the spiky silver-haired Copy-Cat Ninja with the implanted Sharingan eye, an eye of the rare bloodline of the prestigious ninja clan known as the Uchiha. It had been given to him as a gift from his dying comrade Obito Uchiha in the previous Third Great Shinobi War, so his left eye had a vertical scar slashed across it from where the original eye had been damaged but was where the implanted eye now resided. Whenever he was not using his gift, he kept it covered by tying his forehead protector directly across it on his head, leaving only his right eye visible. This, combined with the blue cloth facemask he wore to conceal his nose and mouth, left everyone wondering what his face really looked like when fully exposed. Not even his closest friends had ever seen his full face before. Like Minato, he too wore the standard Konoha flak jacket with chainmail armor, dark blue pants with bandages tied around the ankles, and black fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back for extra protection.

The last man in the trio was Minato's own sensei, the Legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya and the head of the spy network. Not to mention the world's greatest self-proclaimed super pervert and novelist of the most famous adult book series in all of Japan known as Icha Icha Paradise. He had waist-length spiky white hair that was tied up at the back in a low ponytail, and dark eyes with red lines underneath that extended all the way down both of his cheeks to the bottom of his face. Unlike Minato and Kakashi, who both wore the traditional flak jackets, Jiraiya wore a short green haori with matching green pants, a red vest on top with two yellow circles on either side, and rather sturdy mesh armor underneath that was only visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore a set of hand guards, a black belt, traditional wooden sandals instead of ninja sandals, and upon his back he carried a very large scroll. His forehead protector was very unique, as instead of having an ordinary forehead protector with a symbol claiming his first alliance to either the Land of Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Lighting, or some other minor nation included in the new Japan, his forehead protector had two spikes at the top, and had the kanji symbol for the word 'oil' scribbled across it. While he had been born in the Land of Fire, and had even been a student to the Third Hokage when he was first drafted in the ninja army many years ago, and would remain a loyal shinobi to both Konoha and the newly formed Japan until the day he died, his forehead protector indicated that he was affiliated with Mount Myoboku, the land of the toad summoning creatures, as that was where he learned his sage techniques and even how to summon toads to aid him in battles. This knowledge he had passed on to Minato, and together, they had passed it on to Minato's son, who was also consequently Jiraiya's godson.

On a normal day, both Kakashi and Jiraiya would be rather laidback and casual in how they spoke to the Kage's, but not today. Today, they mirrored Minato's furrowed brows and look of concern. The news they had just received had been very, very troubling.

All three of them approached the regal thrones at the far end of the room, and gave respectable bows to the five leaders of Japan and their honorable families.

"You may rise," said the rough voice of the Kage of their home nation in the Land of Fire, the Hokage.

All three stood back up, and took in the appearance of their country's leaders.

The first person that caught their attention was that who was sitting in the throne on the far left, the throne of the Mizukage. Instead of being an aged, respectable man with a history of having served at least one in their life on the battlefield, the person sitting in the throne was that of a tall, slender woman in her early thirties, Mei Terumi. She had soft auburn hair that was so long, it reached her ankles and was styled in a herringbone pattern at the back, with a small bun at the very top of her head tied up in a tightly knotted dark blue band. Her sea green eyes were almost hidden behind her long, windswept bangs, and she had applied a tactful amount of make-up. She wore a long, elegant dark blue kimono with a white obi around her waist, a pair of graceful black slippers, and around her neck was a lovely necklace glittering with large aquamarines. The blue hat for the Mizukage with the kanji symbol representing the word 'water' was not sitting upon her head, though. Instead, it was resting on her lap, signifying her rank as being the regent to the Mizukage Throne rather than being the actual ruler to the Land of Water.

Mei's elder brother Yagura had actually been the one to hold the Mizukage position, the fourth one to do so, actually, and she had been the honorable sister. Yagura had not been a good ruler to the people in the Land of Water, and had ignored the general population's angry complaints and cries for better housing, more food, and more general supplies. Two months ago, he had gone to the capitol city in the Land of Water, Kirigakure, on official Kage business while Mei stayed behind in the Imperial City. That had been the last time she ever saw her brother, because when the common folk learned of the Mizukage's return to his homeland, an impromptu coup-de-tat had been arranged, and Yagura had been killed. For Mei's own protection, the other four Kage's had allowed her to remain in the Imperial Palace until the Civilian and Shinobi Council's in Kiri could convince another powerful male ninja in their region of the country to take the Kage position.

While that happened though, someone had to clean up the mess Yagura had left behind, and although no one asked her, a woman, to do so, Mei had taken it upon herself to be the one to do it. Thanks to Mei's hard work, the problems in Kiri were now declining at a reasonable pace, and the general population was becoming happier every day. It was really a shame that such a smart person with a great mind for politics had been born as a woman, because had she been a man, the Kiri councils would not hesitate in officially passing her the Mizukage hat, but as she was a woman, all she would ever be was regent to the throne. She would clean up her brother's mess in her homeland as best as she could, but as soon as a suitable replacement was found, she would be sent back home with a respectable number of ninja guards to protect her should any people with lingering feelings of hatred for Yagura try to hurt her too, despite all the good work she'd been doing for the region.

As she and Yagura had been the last of their family line, there were no honorable family members sitting around her in the Land of Water's minor thrones, one of which was where she had at one point sat, when Yagura was still alive. Instead, the only other people around her were her personal body guards Chojuro and Ao, a nineteen-year-old boy with short tufts of blue hair and dark eyes with square, black-rimmed glasses with a large sword wrapped in thick bandages strapped to his back, and a man in his mid-forties with darker blue hair and only one visible blue eye, as the other was covered in an eye-patch. He also wore a set of talisman earrings with the kanji symbol for the phrase 'to hear' on each ear. They were always on guard whenever Mei was needed in public these days. Although Kiri was slowly coming out of its political turmoil, things were still dire, and there had been more than one assassination attempt on their unofficial leader's life since she became the regent.

The next throne was occupied by the Fourth Raikage, the leader of the Land of Lightning, whose name was known to the general population only as 'Ay.' He was a very tall man in his late forties, with darkly colored skin and a muscular build thanks to his many years serving on the front lines of battle as a ninja from the capitol city of Kumogakure during the Third Great Ninja War. He had neatly combed white-blonde hair, and a small moustache and beard. He was wearing the traditional yellow Raikage hat with the kanji symbol for 'lightning' stamped across it on his head, as well as the traditional white Kage haori, but he chose to leave it flapping open so that everyone could see his strongly built abdominal muscles. On both his wrists were enormous solid gold bracelets that looked as though they probably weighed a ton, and around his waist was a matching belt with a boar's face engraved into the exact center. Judging by the scowl on his face and the way his dark eyes were narrowed to match his annoyance, he was definitely not the type of person one would want to fight one-on-one.

There was only one seat occupied in the Land of Lightning's minor thrones designated for the honorable family members of the Raikage. It was the Raikage's adoptive younger brother, Killer Bee. Despite not being blood relatives to one another and there being a ten year age gap between Bee and Ay, the two were almost identical to one another. Like the Raikage, Bee also had dark skin, a muscular build, and white-blonde hair with a neatly trimmed goatee. His ninja forehead protector with the Kumo region symbol of a set of clouds was tied around his forehead to keep his hair out of his eyes, which were hidden behind a set of black oval-shaped sunglasses. Two tattoos were visible on his body. The first was of a large bull's horn on his left cheek, and the second was on his right shoulder, and was of the kanji symbol for the word 'iron.' His clothes were very typical to the standard Kumo ninja attire: a one-strap-over-one-shoulder white flak jacket trimmed in yellow with chainmail armor, a long red rope belt tied around his waist, the standard white and red Kumo hand and shin guards, shinobi sandals, and a long white scarf around his neck. Strapped to his back was a set of swords with easy accessibility should he need to draw them at a moment's notice.

Behind them stood the two personal bodyguards of the Raikage. Both of them were in their mid-twenties, and naturally loyal Kumo ninjas. The first one, Darui, was a fairly tall, dark-skinned man just like Raikage and Killer Bee, with dark eyes, and shaggy white hair that completely covered his left eye. Like many others in the room, he carried a broad, cleaver-like sword upon his back. The other guard's name was similar to the Raikage's, and was simply called 'Cee'. He stood out like a sore thumb when placed beside the other three Kumo men. Unlike them, Cee had peachy pale skin and short blonde hair with bangs that nearly completely draped over his Kumo forehead protector tied neatly around his head with black cloth. Both men stood at attention, keeping ready in case something should happen to either their Kage or his adoptive brother.

The man sitting on the throne on the far right was a very old, very short man of nearly eighty with a red squashy nose, silvery-white balding hair tied up in topknot with a yellow ribbon, thick eyebrows, a triangular beard, and an angular cornered mustache. He was Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage of the capitol city of Iwagakure, the Hidden Stone City in the Land of Earth. The brown Tsuchikage hat was upon his head, with the kanji symbol for 'earth' printed atop it. Despite his elderly appearance, there was a fierce fire in his eyes that said he was not to be taken lightly despite his age. He was old, but not yet past his prime as both a ninja and leader.

Like with the Raikage, there was only one throne beside him for honorable family members that was occupied. It was a young girl of about eighteen, with short black hair pulled back in an elegant style with a set of chopsticks and two dark pools for eyes. She was Kurotsuchi, Onoki's only grandchild. The honorable granddaughter was dressed up for the meeting in a formal red kimono with a single slit on the right side going all the way up to her waist, entirely revealing her right leg. A fancy black obi was around her waist, and in addition to a tasteful amount of makeup applied to her face, she wore a matching set of ruby earrings and a gorgeous ruby necklace. She was truly a vision of loveliness.

Unlike the Mizukage regent and the Raikage, Onoki had only bodyguard. A rather large and imposing man of twenty years stood behind him and the honorable granddaughter. Akatsuchi had jet black hair that spiked out from underneath the red-clothed Iwa forehead protector with the regional symbol of two stone mountains etched in the center of the metal, worn as a bandana over his hair instead of as the usual style of being tied directly onto the forehead around the wearer's head. His eyes were narrowed as he gazed down at the ninjas bowing down before them all, not trusting ninjas that hailed from Konoha.

In the next main Kage Throne sat the leader of the Land of Wind from the capitol city of Sunagakure, the City Hidden in the Sand. The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa. Rasa was a man in his early forties, with rich auburn hair, dark eyes, and was most often seen with a stern expression when in public. In addition to the special loosing fitting white Kage haori and green hat with the kanji for 'wind' atop his head, he wore a simple black jacket with chainmail armor underneath and matching black pants. He was known to be quite harsh and cruel at times, as best known by each of his three children, all of whom were sitting in the honorary family thrones beside him.

The eldest of the Sand Siblings was a young woman of twenty years, with two teal-colored eyes and sandy blonde hair that was arranged into four neat ponytails at the back of her head. Her short-sleeved kimono was elegantly designed and pure black, with small slits along the sides and with a slightly revealing neckline. A red obi was tied around her waist, and black silk gloves covered her hands, one of which was currently fanning her face with her favorite small white hand fan painted with three purple circles across the thin paper. She was Temari, the Suna princess, but she was not known for being princess-like in her personality. She was known to be quite vocal when she disagreed about something, and did not play the part of being a respectable young woman who was still preparing to officially meet with a matchmaker, something that her father never failed to remind her of, and rumors stated that he had even boxed her ears several times when she was younger to make sure she understood it, too. There was no way to prove this though, as Temari never spoke much about her past life in the capitol city of Suna before she, her father, and her two brothers moved into the Imperial Palace when Japan was officially formed, and neither did either of her brothers, both of whom had been subjected to their father's abuse as well.

Next to her sat Kankuro, a young man of nineteen and the Kazekage's middle child. On a normal day, he would be wearing his usual ninja gear of a long black shirt over chainmail armor, with matching trousers, a red sash around his waist, and black headgear that completely hid his hair, with cat-like ears on top. The Land of Wind's symbol of an hourglass with a thin rectangle directly above it was etched in the metal of the headband which had been attached to the hat, and intricately designed purple face paint would be generously applied to his face, too. As this was an official meeting with the lead General of the Allied Shinobi Forces, however, his father had ordered him to wear something different and to not apply his usual face paint. He was now sporting a black formal yukata, and his hair, a great mop of thick brown that was generally unmanageable, had been forcibly combed and parted neatly on the right, making him look decently presentable. Resting on the floor beside his minor throne was a series of scrolls, as that was where he kept enormous puppets, his ninja tool of choice, inside for easier mobility when walking around.

The last of the trio was another boy of about seventeen, with very fair skin, bright green eyes with distinctive black rings surrounding them, and naturally spiky red hair. On the left-hand side of his forehead there was a red tattoo of the kanji symbol for 'love' inked into his skin, which made no sense at all considering the seemingly emotionless, but somehow still serious-looking expression upon his face. He was Gaara, the youngest of the Sand Siblings, but the most promising of them all. He wore a long-sleeved crimson coat on top of his mesh armor, two buckled belts, a large gray vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder, and a set of darkly-colored trousers. On the floor beside him was an enormous hollowed gourd that carried a great deal of sand from his homeland region of the Land of Winds. The youngest son of the Kazekage was known to fight with special sand jutsu's during battles, and the sand at times defended him from attacks even without his conscious command. He never went anywhere without carrying his sand gourd with him. Rumor had it that back when he was younger he used to be the terror of Suna, and had on many different occasions killed innocent civilians that had done no wrong. Nothing like that had been seen since he and the rest of his family moved to the Imperial City, however, and it had been years ago that the last killing had been reported. If the rumors were true, then he had definitely become much more mentally stable now than he had been when he was child. It was said that when Rasa finally died or officially stepped down from his position as Kazekage, he wanted to take up the hat and protect the people in the Land of Winds as best he could. Temari and Kankuro were proud of his dream, and encouraged him to follow it. He may have made mistakes when he was younger, but he had a dream to protect their homeland from invaders. It was a noble aspiration, and they encouraged him to never give up on it.

Rasa's only bodyguard, Baki, stood behind all four of them. He was a tall man in his early thirties who, like Kakashi Hatake, chose to allow only a small part of the right side of his face to remain visible, as the rest of his head was covered up by turban-like head gear with a sheet hanging from it to conceal the left side of his face, and was all tied together by the Suna forehead protector tied around his head. He stood at attention directly behind all three of the honorable children's minor thrones. Although Baki's duty was to protect the Kazekage from any type of threat, he was more loyal to Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara than he was to Rasa, as he had been their personal bodyguard when they were all children before being promoted to the Kazekage's personal bodyguard. He had even been Gaara and Kankuro's sensei when they were first learning the basics of being ninja, so he would protect all three of them with his very life should the need arise.

The centermost Kage Throne was occupied by the Hokage of the Land of Fire, from the capitol city of Kohagakure, the city Hidden in the Leaves. Hiruzen Sarutobi was his name, a man of seventy, and he was the one who had made the alliance, uniting the various different regions into the unified country of Japan. In his youth, his hair had been spiky brown and he had a small goatee, but near the end of his life, his hair and goatee had turned gray, and old age was apparent from the deep wrinkles and various liver spots dotting his gaunt face. Like the other Kage's, he wore the traditional red Kage hat with the kanji symbol for 'fire' on his head, and the customary full length red and white haori robes tied off with a white sash.

The Hokage had more honorable family members sitting in the honorary thrones beside him than any of the other leaders did. In the first throne sat his eldest daughter, Tsunade, a beautiful woman despite being in the peak of her mid-forties, and the elder sister of his son Asuma. Some in Japan would even argue that she was the most beautiful woman in all of the five elemental regions, as she looked much younger than her actual age, not to mention she had the largest set of breasts of any woman in the new country as well. She had light brown eyes and straight shoulder-length blonde hair that was pulled back into two loose pigtails that were swept neatly behind her back. A violet diamond was drawn upon her forehead as a form of a unique beauty-mark, too. She wore a gorgeous light green and gray kimono with an even darker gray obi around her waist. Despite being a woman, Tsunade had decided back in her early twenties to do more with her life than simply being a decorative wife to her husband Dan, who had unfortunately passed away many years ago while serving on the front lines of the Third Great Ninja War. She had decided to learn the skills of ninja medical jutsu's and had opened up and improved the conditions of many hospitals throughout the Land of Fire originally, and was now expanding her knowledge to various different regions throughout the new Japan. She was truly a modern woman, but many men throughout the new country looked down on her because of this, especially since she had taught her eldest daughter to behave the same way.

The eldest grandchild of the Third Hokage was a seventeen-year-old girl with shoulder-length pink hair currently pinned back in an elegant bun with a bright red ribbon and set of chopsticks, a slightly large forehead with a violet diamond matching her mother's drawn on, and beautiful green eyes. Her name was Sakura, and her beauty was second only to her mother's looks. She was dressed for the meeting in a bright red kimono trimmed with white, the red color matching her hair ribbon, and stitched in the center of her back was a white outline of a circle. She also wore a black obi around her waist, black slippers, and matching black silk gloves. As her mother's apprentice, Sakura was also known to study medical jutsus, and had on more than one occasion even assisted Lady Tsunade in saving the lives of many civilians on the operating table when other medics and doctors had declared those patients as good as dead. Despite their hard work and efforts, they were still women, and that meant that no matter what they did, they would always be frowned upon for studying the minor ninja art of medical ninjutsu. With the exception of their respective immediate family, the Mizukage regent, Kurotsuchi, and Temari, even the other Kage's and their families frowned down upon Tsunade and Sakura for their work as doctors. Tsunade would never remarry because of her profession, and Sakura would most likely find it difficult for a matchmaker to set her up with a respectable boy from a noble ninja clan as well, but that was fine with both women. For one, Tsunade still loved her late husband more than anything and was quite content with being a widow, and Sakura had no desire to meet with a matchmaker, as she was already in love with someone, even though she was sure the boy she secretly loved would never look at her with the same longing that she held for him. She was content with loving him from afar.

The next person sitting in the minor thrones was Sakura's little brother, Konohamaru, a boy of twelve and named after the ancient name of the capitol city in the Land of Fire. Konohamaru actually looked a lot like how Hiruzen did back in his youth, what with his spiky brown hair and coal black eyes. Although he was male, he was not yet of age to be a proper ninja yet, so he did not have a forehead protector. Instead, he wore a set of goggles on his forehead that had once belonged to his longtime friend and rival: Minato's son, who, just like Konohamaru, had dreams of one day surpassing his grandfather and becoming Hokage. Most likely, the Fifth Hokage, since it seemed as though General Minato would soon be wearing the Hokage hat, as Hiruzen was actually beginning to consider retirement in the very near future.

There was also another woman in her early thirties sitting amongst the Hokage's honorable family members, even though she was not of direct blood family, but made family through marriage. She was Kurenai, Asuma's bride. She had long black hair that reached her mid-back, unique red eyes accentuated by purple eye shadow, and bright red lips. She wore a long, very pretty white kimono with red sleeves, a matching red obi, and a pair of black slippers. Normally, Kurenai was a slender woman with a nice figure, but her stomach at the moment was swollen and large, as she was currently in her seventh month of her pregnancy. She had her hands folded neatly together on her lap, but every once in a while, she would gently rub her baby bump with a loving sigh as a wistful look crossed her face while thinking about her husband and unborn child. She was hopeful that he would return from his ninja duties serving at the Great Wall before it was time for her to give birth to their son or daughter. They were starting a family together, and she wanted her husband beside her when they officially became a real family. Asuma's throne was the only one empty, and she couldn't wait to see him sitting in it again very soon, sending her meaningful glances out of the corner of his eye as they sat with the rest of their family and the other Kage's while listening to other nobles or officials that had been granted an audience with them all.

Unlike the other region leaders, Hiruzen did not have a bodyguard with him. He'd trust his life to any of the three men who had just bowed to him and the others. Instead, he had his personal advisor, Ebisu, standing behind him and the rest of his family. Although functioning as the Hokage's advisor, he was also an excellent shinobi, so much so that he was actually Konohamaru's private elite ninja trainer. Ebisu was a man in his early thirties; with dark brown hair almost completely covered by the way he wore his Konoha forehead protector like a bandana, and dark brown eyes that were hidden behind his trademark black sunglasses. Under his right arm, he carried a brown clipboard with his Hokage's and the Honorable Hokage Family's schedule. He was very loyal to his Hokage, and did everything in his power to make sure his student, the honorable grandson, strived under his private tutelage, which was why he didn't approve of Konohamaru befriending and hanging around Minato's son. It was nothing personal against Minato, as he actually respected the man very much for his rank as General and knew from personal experience that the man was far above him in terms of ninja skills, but in addition to all the legal nonsense involved with the boy's mother, Minato's son was a young trouble maker, who, after spending so many years being taught exclusively by Jiraiya, the world's greatest pervert, he had adopted some of his sensei's perverted habits. He had even developed an original jutsu that he called the Sexy Jutsu, a jutsu wherein the user transformed himself into a naked girl with only a few wispy clouds covering her most intimate areas, and even later on created an offshoot one called the Harem Jutsu. It was basically the same thing as the original, but it involved the user cloning himself first before allowing himself and all the clones to transform themselves into the naked girls all at once so that there were many. The first time Ebisu ever saw it, it had been when Konohamaru had learned the Sexy Jutsu technique, and then Minato's son, to ensure that Ebisu wouldn't bother them any further, used the Harem Jutsu to overwhelm him. Ebisu had been so flustered by the sight of all the naked blonde girls in front of him, he had gotten a major bloody nose and even passed out in shock. That made him a laughing stock to both Konohamaru and Minato's son, and almost every time the idiot teenage boy saw him now, he was always referred to as 'The Closet Pervert.'

During this meeting, the honorable family members, bodyguards, and Hiruzen's personal advisor would not be allowed to speak. They were there to respectfully listen and observe as the four official Kage's and the Mizukage regent listened and responded to whatever news that General Minato and his two fellow Commander's had to report.

"Lord Kage's, Lady Regent, and Honorable Families," Minato began in a respectful, but still grave tone, "we've just received word that the Sound has crossed our Northern Border."

The four Kage's and the Kage Regent's eyes all narrowed at the news, but most members of the honorable families gasped at what they heard, and began exchanging uneasy glances. Even the Kage bodyguards were taken aback, and almost all of them began discreetly fingering the handles of their respective weapons readily, as though afraid that a Sound ninja would appear at any moment and try to harm either their Kage or one of the honorable family members.

There was one man though that did not stay quiet at the news.

"That's impossible!" Ebisu protested. "No one can get through the Great Wall!"

A few of the other Kage's shot irritable looks at the interrupter, and even Hiruzen himself sent him a quick look to stay quiet as he raised his hand to silence him. Ebisu immediately quieted down and meekly took a few steps back with a bowed head, silently apologizing for speaking out of turn.

"It's true, though," said Jiraiya. "My spies have reported that Orochimaru is leading them."

Hiruzen's eyes shut as he absorbed the news about his former student, and even the other Kage's and the Mizukage regent turned to see his reaction. The women in the honorable families, however, whispered nervously amongst themselves while the men's brows furrowed at the troubling news. The most famous traitor from the Land of Fire had finally decided to strike back against the ninja world. This undoubtedly meant that Japan would have to prepare themselves immediately for war. The Fourth Great Ninja War, to be exact.

"Lord Hokage," Kakashi spoke up, bringing Hiruzen's attention to him. "We… we also received saddening news as well. During the invasion over the Great Wall, our sources have told us that… that your son, Asuma, was the one who bravely lit the signal telling us about the invasion, but by doing so… he was personally killed by Orochimaru…"

Hiruzen's jaw went rigid at the news of the death of his only son.

Tsunade gripped the hand rests of her minor throne tightly as her lips formed into a tight line.

Konohamaru's eyes filled with tears as he thought about his kind uncle.

Sakura's eyes went wide as her hand slowly covered her mouth to hide her horror.

Kurenai simply screamed.

" _No!"_ she wailed, all but leaping to her feet as every head in the room immediately snapped in her direction. "No! That's… That's a lie! Asuma… Asuma couldn't have…! He can't be gone!"

"Lady Kurenai," said Minato, his voice filled with sorrow and remorse. "I'm afraid that it is the truth… We are all very sorry for your loss…"

For a long moment, Kurenai simply stared at the three men standing in front of her with tears in her eyes, but then her eyes rolled back up in her head, and she began to fall to the ground.

"Aunt Kurenai!"

"Aunty!"

Upon seeing their aunt faint from the news, Sakura and Konohamaru blinked away their own shock and tears and rushed to catch her before she fully hit the ground.

Tsunade also got to her feet, and ignored the looks of worry and alarm from everyone else throughout the room as she rushed to assess the condition of her dear sister-in-law.

"Sakura, Konohamaru," she said in a no-nonsense tone, and both of her children looked up at their mother immediately. "Take your aunt upstairs at once and get her into bed. Sakura? As soon as she's lying down, I want you to do a quick check-up on her condition and on the baby. Konohamaru? Call for a servant and have them boil some water and bring a washcloth. We need to keep her condition stable. I will be up to help as soon as this meeting is over."

"Yes, mother," both of the honorable Sarutobi children chorused. With a quick wave of Tsunade's hand, a few servants hurried over from where they'd been standing and watching everything from off to the side, and quickly carried the pregnant woman out of the Kage Throne Room. Sakura and Konohamaru quietly followed them, but as the doors leading to the inner halls of the Imperial Palace slid shut behind both the pre-teen boy and the pink-haired girl in her late teens, everyone could hear the whimpering tears escape their lips as they began fully crying for their deceased uncle.

As soon as they and the grief-stricken new widow were gone, the leaders of the five separate lands of Japan began arguing amongst themselves.

"My condolences for your family loss, Lord Hokage, but it is clear that defenses must be placed around the Imperial Palace immediately."

"Doing so would be ill-advised, Lady Regent. If we were to focus on simply defense of ourselves and not on the protection of the common people, Orochimaru and his army would kill everyone in his way to get here."

"You would have us gather our individual shinobi forces just to protect the useless women, Lord Hokage? No disrespect intended towards you, of course, Lady Regent. Hundreds of our shinobi would perish in unnecessary battles."

The Suna princess's hand fan shut with a quick snap of her wrist, and her eyes became sharp at her father's words.

"How dare you, father! What is the use of even being the Kazekage if you do not protect the people in our lands?!"

"Silence, Temari!"

"Lord Kazekage, you should teach your daughter to learn when it is appropriate to be seen, but not heard while in the company of men."

"Believe me Lord Raikage, that is a lesson that shall definitely be taught when this meeting is over."

Temari scowled, and opened her mouth to argue some more with both her father and the Raikage, but Gaara and Kankuro both sent her pleading looks to remain silent. They, too, were furious at what their father had suggested, allowing the civilians in Japan to suffer in order to simply focus all of their defense exclusively on the Imperial Palace, but they knew that Temari was most definitely going to be punished with at least a few smacks to the face from their father by the end of the night, and their father would order their servants the next day to conceal the bruises left behind with make-up. They didn't want her to cause herself any further injuries.

Temari glared at her brother's upon seeing their expressions, but nonetheless gave them a discreet nod, and said nothing else as more arguing commenced. Only this time, it was the Tsuchikage who spoke.

"I agree with Lord Hokage. Lady Regent and Lord Kazekage, we should send our ninjas to defend the common population against the Sound."

"And send out conscription notices to enlist for more men throughout all the regions," suggested the Hokage.

His statement was definitely unexpected, and the other leaders turned to him in surprise.

"What? Are you insinuating that our individual troops are not powerful enough even when joined together?! This Allied Shinobi Country was your idea, Lord Hokage!" roared the Raikage.

"Lord Hokage, I must agree with Lord Raikage on this," General Minato joined in. "I believe our troops can stop him."

"I do not believe we should take risks, Lord Raikage, General," Hiruzen calmly explained. "I personally know how Orochimaru is, and we should not take chances against him. A single grain of rice can tip a scale, after all. One man, one ninja, can be the difference between a glorious victory and utter defeat."

* * *

Unknown to everyone in the Imperial City, at that very moment, in a far away village deep in the heart of the Land of Fire, a young girl of eighteen was sitting upon her bed in her regal bedroom inside her household, gently painting kanji symbols upon her wrist with a small brush and a pot of jet black ink. A small bowl of rice was beside her, and she would daintily pick up her set of chopsticks every now and then and pop a small serving into her mouth before continuing to pour over the various scrolls in front of her, all detailing how a young woman of her age was supposed to act in order to attract a husband.

She was quite the beautiful girl, with long, straight indigo-colored hair that reached her waist and framed her heart-shaped face nicely. Her eyes, as clear as white pearls but with small hints of lavender in them, were pupil-less but still possessed a warmth to them that gave her a certain kindness to her features that was impossible to replicate, even though by birthright, the kekkei genkai in her eyes was supposed to symbolize the fact that she was to be of a strict, serious demeanor. Her pupil-less pearly eyes meant that the girl was a member of the prestigious Hyuuga clan in the Land of Fire, known throughout the centuries to produce males that went on to be supreme ninja warriors with their all-seeing eyes of the Byakugan and special taijutsu fighting style of the Gentle Fist. She was of noble birth, this girl, and although she was a woman and would never use her bloodline trait to fight on the frontlines of battle, she was still a member of the main branch in the clan, the first-born daughter to the head of the family, Hiashi Hyuuga.

She was Hinata Hyuuga, the clan heiress to the Hyuuga main branch.

The Hyuuga clan was broken up into two sides. The branch family and the main family. The main family was the head of the clan, and they raised their sons to become prominent ninja warriors and their daughters to become respectable young ladies worthy enough to bear more Hyuuga male heirs or to be married off to respectable noble families or high ranking ninja leaders and heroes in order to increase clan influence, while on the branch side, everyone was branded at the age of three with a special seal upon their foreheads for two reasons. The first was to protect their bloodline of the Byakugan after death so that outsiders couldn't steal their precious kekkei genkai, but the other was to force submission and servitude. They were to serve and protect the main branch family with their very lives, and if they didn't, they would be punished by a main branch member activating the seal which would cause the sealed Hyuuga extreme pain to their brains.

In the entire main branch, with the exception of Hinata's younger sister who was not yet of age to learn how to perform the horrible technique, Hinata was the only known member to have never used the seal on anyone. She was far too kind to ever consider using it.

The young Hyuuga princess was a very sweet girl, always known for addressing everyone in her clan with the proper respect, and even treated those who served in the branch family as people higher than herself. She was compassionate, and always thought about other people's well-being first before her own. She was also very shy and meek, and when she spoke, her words were almost always a soft-spoken murmur as she blushed with embarrassment for speaking at all. It was an extremely rare event if she were to ever yell, as she tended to hate confrontation and was often afraid of ever offending somebody.

That was not to say, however, that she was truly the perfect heiress.

While she was truly a kind-hearted, sweet girl, Hinata's soft-spoken words often came across as nervous stammering half of the time, which was something that both the Hyuuga clan elders and her own father tended to frown down on her for. She was also clumsy, often dropping trays of tea whenever she offered to bring it to her father's study when he requested it or to her mother when she spent her afternoons in the clan gardens. Instead of behaving like other girls her age and applying make-up on a daily basis to accentuate her beauty and wearing lovely kimono's when going out in public, Hinata rarely ever applied make-up to her face except on special occasions, and she preferred to wear bulky coats over her clothes to hide her figure rather than wear kimono's or pretty dresses to show it off. It wasn't that Hinata wanted to look unfeminine to the rest of the world, it was simply that doing things like that meant showing off her body and bringing attention to her face, which was something that the shy girl had never been very comfortable doing.

These faults made many people in the main family of the clan to look down on her, particularly the clan elders. They believed that Hinata should be removed from her position as heiress, and instead begin grooming her younger sister as the next leader of their clan. Hiashi had done everything in his power to convince those on the Hyuuga council to give Hinata more time. She would fulfill her role and bring honor to the clan by striking a good match with the village matchmaker one day. She would not be the embarrassment and bring dishonor to their noble house.

And that day had finally come. Today was the day that Hinata was supposed to meet with Lady Anko, one of the finest matchmaker's in the village, well known for finding love or satisfaction in couples and their families. If Hinata succeeded in impressing her today, she could be betrothed to the son of a noble lord or at least a high ranking ninja who had brought great honor to his own clan. But if she failed in her duty with Lady Anko, Anko could easily cause great dishonor to both herself and the entire clan by declaring her unfit for marriage. A matchmaker's word was like an unwritten law. If the fates declared someone a loner, they would do everything in their power to make sure that person remained so until their dying day.

That was why Hinata had woken up early this morning in order to prepare. She knew that she tended to forget important things when she became flustered or extremely nervous, so she had decided to jot down important details from her scrolls on what to say upon her left wrist for her session this afternoon. So long as she made sure that her mother allowed her to wear a long-sleeved kimono to conceal the black inked kanji symbols, it was unlikely she would be caught. And although Lady Anko could demote her and declare her unfit for marriage should she discover the writings on her wrist, it was a risk Hinata had to take. As the heiress, her family honor as well as her respect in the clan was at stake today. She had to make sure to do everything in her power to ensure that she struck a good match.

" _Q-Quiet and demure… graceful… p-polite…_ Well, at l-least I can d-do that easily…" she told herself with a nervous smile as she popped some more of her steamed rice in her mouth. _"Delicate…"_ she continued through her mouthful. "M-my goodness, they're asking a l-lot!" she dipped her small brush into the ink pot, and began carefully copying the next few hidden traits in her scrolls onto her slender left wrist. _"R-Refined and poised… P-Punctual!"_ she cheered lightly as she finished her calligraphy, smiling upon seeing her finished success.

A sudden knock on her bedroom door interrupted her happy moment.

"Lady Hinata?" called out a feminine voice.

Hinata's head whipped up upon hearing her interruption, and she scrambled to put away her scrolls, ink pot, and notes as she hastily blew tufts of air onto her wrist to make the ink quickly dry.

"O-One moment, please!" she called back rather nervously.

Not wanting the branch member standing outside to see her in her thin nightgown, she blew a few more times on her left wrist for good measure before throwing a bathrobe on to cover herself. She took a moment to collect her finished bowl of rice and chopsticks on her bed, and then moved to open the door.

Outside her door stood a young girl from the minor cadet family, only one or two years younger than her, and carrying a tray with a large pot of tea and two empty cups.

"I brought the tea you requested for, Lady Hinata," said the girl.

Hinata smiled as she accepted the tray. "Thank y-you very much. I-If you would be k-kind enough to t-take this—" she handed the girl her empty bowl of rice and her chopsticks "—back t-to the kitchens f-for me, I would b-be very grateful."

"Of course, Lady Hinata! It would be my pleasure," said the girl with a cheerful smile.

It was always a pleasure for those in the branch family to carry out the Hyuuga heiress's requests, few though they might be. For one, Hinata didn't like to burden those in the branch family with trivial things such as to prepare meals or to tidy her room, and preferred to do those things herself, today being the exception as she had to hurry into the village to get ready for her matchmaking session. The other reason why those in the branch loved to serve her was because she treated them with respect, and if it turned out, in the rare event that she did take the time to ask one to help with something, but they were unable to do so for any reason, she never used the curse seal on that person and never bore him or her any ill will. She would actually bow to the branch member, thank him or her for taking the time to hear her out, and then apologize for taking them away from their current duties.

As was her custom for whenever a branch member completed a task for her, Hinata gave the girl before her a polite bow.

"T-Thank you again for y-your assistance," she said kindly, doing her best to not stutter.

"You're very welcome, Lady Hinata. And I hope you do well today with Lady Anko."

"O-Oh! Before you g-go, I was wondering… D-Do you happen to k-know if my father and c-cousin are in the d-dojo yet for my cousin's morning l-lessons?"

"As far as I know, no, Lady Hinata. The last I heard they were out in the gardens at the family shrine, praying for your success today."

"I s-see. Thank you a-again."

The branch girl took her leave, and Hinata gently shut the door with her foot, set the tray with the tea down on top of her dresser, and moved to change into something that would suit her well for her journey to the village.

As she opened a drawer to pull out a simple kimono, however, she came across something else instead. A long, tattered red scarf that she'd had since childhood. The sight of this scarf made her pause. It involved a rather bittersweet memory of the boy she had only ever met once, on a cold winter morning back when she was just a small child, right after the end of the Third Great Ninja War at her Uncle Hizashi's funeral. At the time, she'd been upset over the death of her only uncle and had run away from the funeral procession, only to run right into a group of bullies who had teased her for how strange her pearlescent eyes were. That's when the boy appeared, with the unruliest blonde hair and the bluest set of eyes she'd ever seen and wearing the scarf she now held in her hands. He had defended her against their verbal abuse, even though that meant taking the brunt of a three on one attack from all three boys at once. Afterwards, they took his scarf, and tore it to shreds right in front of both the boy and her, and then ran off. Hinata had meekly apologized to the mysterious blonde boy for causing his scarf to be ruined and for the fact he'd gotten hurt, but the boy had brushed off his injuries and said not to worry about the scarf, and that she could keep it if she wanted. She thanked him again for his help, and then he ran off.

She never saw that kind-hearted boy again or found out his name, but she knew as she watched him run off through the snow that he had become her first love.

It had saddened her over the years as she grew older and learned from her mother and other distant female relatives in her clan that she would one day be matched up to a random boy simply for financial security or clan power and not to the boy who had stolen her heart back when she was a child, but she couldn't let herself think that way today. As heiress, her honor as well as the honor of the entire Hyuuga clan was resting upon her shoulders. As much as she still secretly didn't want to, it was time for her to put that boy in her past and think about the future.

With a sigh, Hinata gently folded the scarf back up, and put it away back in her drawer before finding the kimono she'd originally been searching for, and quietly got dressed. She didn't have time to reminiscence about the past. Thanks to how long she had spent making notes for herself for today on her wrist, she was already running late for her appointment in the village with the stylist her mother had hired for today to get her ready for this afternoon. She really had to hurry, but not before she brought some tea to her father and beloved cousin. It was a daily ritual for her to bring at least one of his needed cups of tea in the morning to her aged father to help his injured leg, and one to her cousin for an energy boost before he began his morning training in the clan dojo.

As soon as she was dressed in a plain white kimono that would suit her well on her ride into town, she collected the tray with the tea the branch girl had brought her, exited her bedroom, and hurried as best as she could to the clan gardens to find her father and cousin.

* * *

Deep in the gardens of the Hyuuga clan compound, two men were busily lighting incense sticks inside the Hyuuga family shrine. They placed both of their sticks inside the incense holder of a golden fox with nine tails, and knelt down in front of the various plaques and large memorial stones in front of them, each of them inscribed with the names of their ancestors in the Hyuuga clan. The older one of the two, a man in his late forties, had to be helped to get down onto his knees by his younger, much more agile nephew of nineteen, as his right leg had been severely crippled in the previous ninja war. The best medics in all of the Land of Fire had tried to correct it, but by the time he had been brought to them after being found on the battlefield, it was too late to fix it. The man couldn't complain, though. He was still alive, after all. He had been able to spend many more years with his wonderful wife and watch both of his daughters grow up into fine young ladies and watch his nephew become a formidable ninja as well. His only regret was that he hadn't been able to save his twin brother, his nephew's father, during the war. He had been left with only a permanently damaged leg after he and his twin brother Hizashi had been caught up in an explosion caused by an explosive tag attached to a kunai. His brother, on the other hand, had unfortunately lost his life.

Once his nephew helped him down, Hiashi Hyuuga gently set down his cane, slowly closed his featureless white eyes momentarily as he bowed down low to the stone floor of the shrine in respect for the dearly departed, despite how his long, dark brown hair got into his face as he did so and that his usually tidy traditional long-sleeved haori was becoming rumpled and dirty. The pendant around his neck of the Hyuuga crest of a single red flame against a circular yellow backdrop which showed his status as the head of the clan touched the ground too, but then landed back on his chest as he straightened up again and clapped his hands together in a prayer position. His eldest daughter would be meeting the matchmaker this afternoon. He might be a stern man, especially when it came to the many of Hinata's failures in her duties as the clan heiress that were pointed out on a daily basis by the Hyuuga clan elders, but he did truly wish for her to do well today, and he knew that praying for her success from the family guardians, spirit companions, and many ancestors would give her some much needed luck.

As soon as his uncle was settled, Neji also got down on his knees next to him, also not caring how his white haori shirt, matching pants, and navy-gray apron around his waist were becoming somewhat wrinkled and dirty, and bowed respectfully toward the family plaques before bringing his hands into a prayer position as well. Despite not being Hiashi's son, Neji actually looked very similar to his uncle, what with the same long dark brown hair that he always tied back in a loose ponytail tied a few inches above the end of his hair length, and equally stern-looking byakugan eyes. It wasn't all that surprising, considering his deceased father had been Hiashi's twin. The only real difference between the two of them was that Hiashi was the head of the main branch family, and Neji, being the son of Hiashi's younger twin brother, belonged to the branch family, so if one were to remove the Land of Fire forehead protector from where he had tied it around his forehead, they would see the Hyuuga seal of servitude imprinted upon his skin. It was really a shame that Neji belonged to the branch family and would always be overlooked, because he was truly one of the finest ninjas the Hyuuga's had ever produced in generations. He had even figured out by himself back when he was twelve how to perform secret ninja skills with the byakugan that were supposed to be taught exclusively to members of the main branch. It just proved how much of a genius he was to have learned these with no guidance whatsoever.

Back when he was younger after his father died in the war, Neji used to despise his uncle, aunt, and cousins for belonging to the main branch while he, the only male heir, would never amount to anything despite being a promising ninja since he'd been born into the servitude branch family. Meanwhile his two cousins, especially Hinata, were given every advantage possible even though she and her younger sister would never learn the secret ninja skills of the Gentle Fist with the Byakugan as they had both been born women. That all changed a few years ago, though, when Hiashi had given Neji a scroll written to him by Hizashi shortly before he and Hiashi had been forced to enlist in the war. In the scroll, Hizashi had explained that if Neji were reading it, it meant that he had unfortunately died during the war, but that Neji should not blame the main house for this. If he died while Hiashi still lived, it meant that Hizashi had died protecting him. Not because it was the sworn duty of the branch family to do so, but because he had wanted to protect his brother, and that he hoped that Neji would not hold the main family in contempt because of this. It had been his choice to die for his brother, not be forced to die for the Hyuuga clan.

Ever since then, Neji had been more open toward his uncle, aunt, and female cousins and he had been able to mend the bridge that he himself had created between them all. So much so, that his aunt and uncle had even been able to strike him a match with the matchmaker late last year, and he had actually gotten married a little less than two months ago. He knew firsthand how nerve-wracking it had been for him when he first met with Lady Anko, but despite being born into the branch family, his good manners and fame in his clan at being a Gentle Fist master had been enough for the woman to partner him up with one of the kindest, most interesting women he'd ever known, and they were quite happy together, too.

Now that it was Hinata's turn, he was more than delighted to join his uncle this morning in praying to their ancestors, in particular his father, to help his cousin today when she met with Lady Anko before Hiashi oversaw his morning training session. While it would have been an honor to spar with his uncle with their clan's Gentle Fist taijutsu, it wasn't at all possible with his uncle's leg the way it was. Instead, Hiashi would watch him train and spar with other members of their clan and instruct him on what he was doing wrong and how he could improve his technique.

"Honorable ancestors, brave Hyuuga family guardians, good spirit companions, and all others who dwell inside this shrine," Hiashi began, his head bowed as he prayed. "I humbly ask that you look after my eldest daughter today."

"Lady Hinata is wonderful and kind. She needs your help, father, good ancestors," Neji added. "Don't leave her alone to just rely on luck. Please help her to impress the matchmaker today. Help her to become a worthy bride to a good and noble man. Uncle and I beg of you to guide her."

The two were silent for a time as they listened to the wind lightly whistle through the shrine, making the golden nine-tailed fox incense holder sway a bit on its gold chain where it hung from the temple ceiling. Despite the wind, the incense still burned strongly. That was surely a good omen. It meant that their faith in the young heiress wasn't misplaced. The ancestors of the clan would do everything in their power to make sure Hinata fulfilled her destiny today.

Neji stood up first and then helped his injured uncle to collect his cane and get back to his feet as well. As they made their way out of the temple, they suddenly saw, much to their surprise, just who was hurrying through the clan gardens, still carrying the tray with the pot of tea and the two cups.

"Daughter!"

"Lady Hinata!"

"F-Father, cousin, I b-brought you both s-some – oh!" she cut herself off as she nearly slipped on the top step leading up to the shrine. The teapot and the cups wobbled as she struggled to regain her balance, but luckily, nothing spilled or crashed to the ground.

"Lady Hinata! Are you all right?" Neji asked worriedly, even holding out an arm to help steady her.

Hinata smiled warmly at him as she adjusted her grip on the tray so as to hold it with one hand, and then handed both him and Hiashi both of the empty cups before setting the tray gently down on the ground momentarily to pour them both the tea.

"I am a-all right, Neji, do not w-worry… I brought y-you and father some t-tea!"

Hiashi's eyes furrowed. He appreciated his eldest child's concern for his health, but she should have left for town all ready.

"Hinata—"

"R-Remember what the d-doctor said, father? Three c-cups of tea in the morning, and t-three at night…"

"Cousin—"

"And N-Neji? It's not g-good to train at all without d-drinking some tea f-first…"

"Hinata!" said Hiashi in a slightly stern tone, and Hinata instantly quieted down and looked to her father. "What are you still doing here? You're supposed to be in town already with your mother and sister to help you get ready to meet with Lady Anko."

"Tenten went along, too. She wishes to help you as well, Lady Hinata. We all know you will find your other half today."

Hinata gave them a bittersweet smile. She was hardly sure that even if she did succeed in impressing the matchmaker, she would really be matched to her true soul mate. Just the best match biologically, financially, prestigiously, and ninja skill-wise. Not a match made of love. Sure, she might eventually come to love her betrothed as Neji had come to learn to love his bride, but despite knowing that this was what she had to do to bring her family honor, she still wasn't sure how she felt being betrothed to a complete stranger. She knew it had been years ago, but there was still a small part of her that was still longing for the boy who had protected her back when she was a child.

"Yes, f-father, cousin N-Neji. I was j-just about to l-leave."

Hiashi nodded in satisfaction and, in a rare moment of fatherly warmth, he gently patted her shoulder and smiled.

"Remember, my daughter, your future as heiress of the clan is at stake today. The entire clan is counting on you to—"

"—to u-uphold the honor of the Hyuuga c-clan!" she finished nervously. The reminder was nerve-wracking to the young woman, and she subconsciously tugged the sleeve of her kimono covering the kanji notes on her wrist further down. "Do n-not worry, father. I… I p-promise to not d-disappoint you!"

"Very good."

"W-Wish me luck!" she said in a nervous rush before turning on her heel, and swiftly descending back down the steps of the shrine and running in the direction of the Hyuuga family private stables.

"Good luck, Lady Hinata!"

"Hurry!"

As soon as she was fully out of earshot, Neji turned to face his uncle with a rather guilty expression.

"I think we should still pray for her, Uncle Hiashi…"

"That is probably very wise, nephew. Very, very wise…"

Hinata was completely ignorant to the reluctant faith her father and cousin were currently holding for her. She was instead smiling to herself from the kind words of encouragement they had both given her as she entered the stables, and strolled up to her own personal mare, Rin. Rin was a stallion with a coat as white as snow, a pure white mane and tail, a black snout, and black hooves. He had been given to her as a present for her fifteenth birthday three years ago from her father, and since then, not a day had gone by that she had not been thankful to her father for giving her one of the greatest friends she'd ever have. Although it was custom for branch members of the clan to care for the clan horses, Hinata was insistent on taking care of Rin herself. He was her horse, and although the care and keeping of a horse was dirty and messy, Hinata did not mind in the slightest. She loved Rin, and Rin for sure loved her back.

Rin seemed to smell Hinata as soon as she entered, and whinnied in greeting as he saw his loving owner approach.

"G-Good morning, Rin. Are y-you well today?" Hinata politely asked her horse as she gently patted his neck.

Rin nickered as he nuzzled his long snout against Hinata's face in a horse's way of saying yes.

Hinata lightly laughed as she scratched his ears.

"That's g-good! I h-have to hurry and s-saddle you up, now. I have t-to get to town q-quickly today! I'm already r-running late!"

Rin seemed to understand the pleading in Hinata's voice, and was very calm and obedient as his mistress gave him a quick brush down of his coat and then saddled him up. As Hinata moved to mount him, however, a cold voice suddenly called out to her from the entrance to the stables.

"Lady Hinata. You have not left yet."

Between the coldness in the words and the fact that the sentence was spoken as a statement rather than as a question left little doubt in the Hyuuga princess' mind as to who had come to see her off. Hinata gulped, and silently prayed that she would not stutter through this next conversation as she turned to face the people who had gathered right outside Rin's stall.

Two of the Hyuuga elders, an old man and an old woman, were blocking the exit of the horse stall, studying her intently with cold appraisal as they waited for an explanation as to why their heiress was not yet in town and preparing to meet the village matchmaker.

It took all of Hinata's willpower to find the strength to politely bow and speak clearly.

"Honorable elders," she said quietly. "What an unexpected p-pleasure! I… I was just leaving right n-now…"

She inwardly cursed herself for managing to stutter not once, but twice! And in front of the people who had the power to sway the rest of the Hyuuga council in demoting her status as the clan heiress no less!

The elderly Hyuuga man's brows furrowed in contempt.

"We on the council would have thought that the heiress would have considered today important enough to leave early, not wait until the last minute…"

"Yes," agreed the woman, her wrinkled face twisted in an obvious sneer. "We all believed that the heiress would not wish to cause embarrassment to the clan by turning up late…"

In the back of Hinata's mind, she barely registered the fact that Rin was snorting at the two elders in clear anger for the diminishing words they were belittling her, his mistress, with, but Hinata didn't even look at her loyal horse. She was too concerned about the present situation and appeasing the concerns of the man and woman in front of her.

"My h-humblest apologies! I was concerned about my father's health, so I w-waited to ensure that he received and fully drank his morning tea."

Hinata fought the urge to wince upon realizing that she had stuttered once again.

There was a brief silence as the two elders studied her. It lasted only a few short seconds, but to Hinata, the silence seemed to stretch on for many long hours.

"Do not be a disappointment today, Lady Hinata," the man ordered. "We on the Hyuuga council do not accept failures as worthy of being the next head of this clan."

"Yes," agreed the woman, her eyes sharp as she seemed to stare directly into Hinata's timid and meek soul. "Embarrassment is unacceptable. Make sure to strike a worthy match."

"Y-Yes sir, ma'am," Hinata said softly, forcing herself to look them in the eyes as she nodded.

The two elders nodded back in satisfaction, and then turned and marched out of the stables without another word.

Hinata didn't dare to breathe until they fully exited the barn, and as soon as they were gone, she let out a deep breath of relief she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. Conversations with those on the Hyuuga council always made Hinata very anxious and nervous.

Rin nudged his face against Hinata's long, silky blue hair in an effort to cheer her up.

Hinata smiled, and gently patted his nose appreciatively.

"I-I'm okay, Rin. I p-promise…"

Rin nickered, not truly believing his mistress's words, but couldn't do anything about it, because right then, Hinata gently climbed up onto her saddle in a ladylike sidesaddle position. It would be easier for her to ride like a man, with one leg on each side, especially since she was in a hurry, but women were not supposed to ride in such an undignified way. She would have to do her best to ride as swift as possible in the awkward sidesaddle position she'd been instructed in.

"C-C'mon! W-We're going to b-be later than ever thanks t-to that surprise conversation!"

And without another word, Hinata picked up the reins, and lightly galloped out of the stables and off the Hyuuga clan property.

* * *

In the middle of the village, just outside the entrance to the most popular, and most expensive beauty salon in all of town, Hitomi Hyuuga, the matriarch of the main branch of the Hyuuga clan, was pacing nervously back and forth as she cursed the god's for her eldest daughter's tardiness. Hitomi was a very beautiful woman, and she bore a striking resemblance to that of Hinata. The same long, dark blue hair which was currently pulled back into an elegant bun and a set of chopsticks, pearlescent eyes with small hints of lavender in them, and a gentleness to her face that was only ever replicated in that of Hinata. She was wearing a long-sleeved, dark purple kimono with a navy blue obi around her waist, and due to how much she was walking around because of her stress, one of her hands was daintily picking up the hem of it so as to not trip or get it dirty.

She was not alone, either. There were two others with her.

The first was that of a girl the same age as that of her nephew, Neji. Her name was Tenten, and she had only a few months ago joined their clan by marrying her nephew. As the daughter of a wealthy merchant who specialized in ninja weapons, her family had initially been skeptical of having her marry a man from the Hyuuga branch family, but upon meeting Neji and being impressed with his skills as a ninja and his good manners, they had eventually consented to the marriage. She was truly a very pretty girl, with dark brown eyes and hair that was pulled back into two cutesy panda-bear style buns on her head. She was wearing a rather simple, long-sleeved kimono with a high collar and white top with maroon edges, and its skirt was long and maroon-colored, too, and a white obi was tied securely around her waist. Unlike Lady Hitomi, Tenten was standing still next to the entrance of the beauty salon, but she kept subconsciously wringing her black-gloved hands to try and alleviate her nerves. Ever since she had become a member of the family, she had become good friends with Hinata, and she wanted to see her succeed with Lady Anko today as much as anyone else did. So the fact that her new cousin-in-law was running very late was not sitting well with her.

The other was a thirteen-year-old girl with long, dark brown hair that fell well past her hips and was tied back in three low ponytails. The longest one was the one tied at the nape of her neck with an expensive white ribbon, and the other two were shorter strands that framed her face and were tied back into loose ponytails with pink ribbons instead. As was the custom for being a Hyuuga, she had the trademark pearlescent eyes of her clan with hints of lilac in them, the only physical trait she had inherited from her mother, as her dark brown hair was something she had instead inherited from her father. She was Hanabi Hyuuga, the second-born daughter to Hiashi and Hitomi Hyuuga, Hinata's little sister, and the one many clan elders would prefer to see be officially announced as clan heiress instead of Hinata, as not only was Hanabi much more confident than Hinata was, she was also not afraid to act and dress like a girl, either, as was obvious by the short, knee-length yellow kimono she was wearing with long sleeves and a red flame design on the skirt, the symbol of the Hyuuga clan, and the pretty white obi around her waist.

The only thing that made the clan elders rather iffy about convincing Hiashi to officially announce Hanabi as the new heiress was Hanabi's personality. Unlike Hinata, who was calm and respectful around her peers, Hanabi was much more playful, tending to run around and get dirty more often than not, and loved to daydream. That was true with her right now. Although she was just as worried as her mother and Tenten as to what could be causing her dear older sister to be so late, she was not fidgeting or pacing back and forth in front of the salon worriedly. Instead, she was sitting down on a small bench right beside the entrance, and gazing fondly at the small, circular bamboo cage in her hands with a tiny little rabbit spirit inside that she herself had summoned with all of her heart from their family shrine before dawn this morning. Rabbits were supposed to be lucky after all, and she couldn't wait to see the look on her beloved older sister's face when she saw what she'd done to help her today.

Beloved was the correct word, too; she adored her big sister so much. With the obvious exceptions of Hinata's natural shyness and clumsiness, Hanabi wanted to be just like her sister when she grew up.

Upon noticing the lack of worry from her younger daughter, Hitomi stopped pacing and looked at Hanabi. "Hanabi, how can you be so calm? Your sister's still not here!" she exclaimed, her voice sounding slightly stern due to how worried she was.

Hanabi looked away from her little rabbit spirit to smile up at her mother. "I know, mother, but I know luck is on our side thanks to little Usagi here! So long as she's with us, I know my big sister will turn up any minute now!"

"Having a little bit of extra luck on our side definitely couldn't hurt, but we should also be practical about this," Tenten said. "I was hoping to give Hinata some pointers on what to say to Lady Anko if we had enough time before her session. With the way things look now, even if she shows up in the next five minutes, she'll be cutting it close for her appointment…"

At that moment, the woman who ran the beauty salon, Shizune, poked her head out the doors, looked around for any sight of Hinata, and then sighed exasperatedly. "Lady Hyuuga? You're daughter's not here yet? The matchmaker is not a patient woman," she warned, and then disappeared back inside to prepare.

Hitomi groaned, and gently massaged her temples to try and alleviate her stress. She loved Hinata dearly, but her daughter was driving her patience awfully thin right now. "Of all days to be late! I should have prayed to the ancestors for luck!"

Hanabi visibly pouted. "What good would that do? They're all dead!"

Hitomi's eyes grew sharp as they zeroed in on her youngest. "Hanabi! Show respect for the deceased!"

"It's true though, mother! And besides, I already told you that we have all the luck we need with my little rabbit! Isn't that right, Usagi?" she asked the little bunny in the cage, holding it up so that it would be level with her face.

The tiny white creature twitched its pink nose cutely in reply.

Tenten held up a hand to stifle her giggles at her younger cousin-in-law's antics, but then spotted a certain blue-haired girl riding a particular white horse hurriedly through the crowd. "Aunt Hitomi! Hanabi!" she said eagerly, indicating for both of them to look in the direction she was looking in.

Hinata was galloping down the street on Rin, her face completely scarlet as she mumbled hasty apologies to people she nearly knocked down and to merchants whose stalls she nearly toppled over in her rush to make it on time to her beauty appointment. Despite the long ride between the beauty salon and the Hyuuga compound, Rin was not the slightest bit fatigued. He was a stallion at heart, and stallions were meant to have high stamina. Rin pulled up beside the three Hyuuga women, and Hinata hastily climbed down.

"I'm h-here!" she gasped, wringing her hands a bit in nervousness for the scolding she knew she was about to receive from her mother.

Hanabi giggled at her sister's late but nonetheless dramatic entrance.

Tenten smiled in relief that her cousin had finally arrived.

Hitomi, although usually known to be more kind and patient than her husband, was scowling a bit at her daughter with her hands on her hips.

Hinata gulped. If she'd managed to make her kind-hearted mother mad, she was really, _really_ late.

"I-I'm terribly sorry, m-mother, but I had t-to—"

"None of your excuses, Hinata. There's no time," her mother lightly chastised as she put a hand on her back, and began gently steering her inside the beauty parlor. "We must get you cleaned up at once! By the mercy of the gods and spirits you arrived just in time! Tenten? Be a dear and tie up Rin, please."

"Of course, Aunt Hitomi," said Tenten obediently. She took hold of Rin's reins, and steered him off in the direction of a hitch post a short distance away as Hinata, Hitomi, and young Hanabi entered the salon.

Shizune looked up from her space behind the cash register when she saw them enter.

"Finally arrived, have you?" the beautician asked, moving around the desk so as to closely examine Hinata.

Hinata blushed subconsciously as Shizune took in her appearance from head to toe. When she initially left this morning, she at least looked somewhat presentable for when going to her appointment. Now though, after spending so much time brushing Rin's coat and riding him into town, there were pieces of straw stuck in her hair, bits of dirt were stuck under her fingernails, and she overall smelled like a barn. It really had been a good decision on her mother's part to have her go to a professional beautician in town rather than get her ready at home and then have her ride.

"Hmm…" said Shizune, "Not the best customer I've had right off the bat, but I've definitely seen worse walk in. We can definitely make a diamond out of the rough out of you."

Before Hinata could so much as blink, Shizune was suddenly shoving her in the direction of a large screen a short distance away and standing beside a large wooden bathtub that was on the verge of overflowing with bubbles. As soon as she was hidden from sight from her mother, sister, and Tenten, who had just come inside after tying up Rin, she found herself being stripped out of her clothes.

"N-No!" Hinata stuttered, her face literally on fire as her obi was yanked off and Shizune was wrenching her arms out of the sleeves of her simple kimono. "Don't t-take that—"

"We need to get you washed, Lady Hinata. You can't expect to take a bath with your clothes on, do you?" asked Shizune with a light laugh. She didn't wait for her customer to give her any sort of a reply, because as soon as the young Hyuuga heiress was essentially stripped of every garment clothing her body, she gave her a slight nudge in the direction of the tub.

Due to how overwhelmed Hinata had become in the face of this sudden embarrassing event, the little push had been more than enough to make her trip, and she went teetering backwards right into the middle of the tub, splashing water and soapy bubbles in every direction.

Hinata squealed the second she hit the water. It wasn't hot or even lukewarm as she had expected. It was icy cold!

"It's f-freezing!" she whimpered, her teeth chattering together as she shivered in the bath.

Hitomi, Hanabi, Tenten, and Shizune all giggled at the sight as they circled around the tub. Hanabi especially seemed to be enjoying her elder sister's current predicament, even more-so than the others.

"That's what you get for showing up late!" she teased.

"Yes, it would have been warm if you were here on time," Hitomi said gently, her eyes flashing with slight traces of amusement. Despite her eldest child's many faults as both a young lady and the heiress to their clan, she was still her first-born daughter and she loved her dearly.

Hinata blushed even harder at their very true words, but before she could say anything, Shizune was pouring a basin filled with much warmer water over her head. The sudden weight on her head made Hinata gasp, and she slipped and dunked fully into the tub. When she resurfaced, her beautiful indigo hair was dripping wet and clinging to soap bubbles.

"C-Cold!" she stuttered again, this time running her hands up and down her upper arms to emphasize.

"Don't worry, Hinata! We'll have you washed and dried in a jiffy! And besides, we women must suffer to be beautiful!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Yes, you'll be glowing with pride by the time I'm done," Shizune agreed, dumping an assortment of scented soaps and lavish oils into her hair and raking her fingers through it to make sure that everything was fully absorbed. "Trust me, Lady Hinata. You will look more than worthy to be a bride to that irritable matchmaker when I'm through with you."

Hinata bit her lip before giving the attendant a rather nervous nod. As she did so, Hitomi had picked up a sponge and her left arm to try and assist Shizune in the process. She was about to start scrubbing away at the dirt coating the arm, but that was when she saw the kanji notes Hinata had written for herself.

"Hinata, what is this?" she asked, sounding more than a little unimpressed.

Hinata didn't think it was possible, but she blushed even harder at the knowledge that her small cheat sheet had been discovered.

"Um… n-notes, mother… J-just in case, you k-know…?" she whispered nervously, gently tugging her wrist out of her mother's grasp. "You know h-how I get when I'm n-nervous…"

Hitomi sighed, but otherwise didn't comment on her notes as Shizune continued her ministrations.

Thankfully for Hinata, the humiliating bath ended ten minutes later, and after allowing her a few moments of privacy to slip on a set of clean undergarments and a fluffy white robe to wear for the next stage, Shizune all but dragged her over to a chair further back in the store, beside a table with a blow-dryer on top of it along with several other hair care products.

Her mother shoved her — albeit gently — into the chair, and then Shizune turned on the blow dryer. Hinata winced and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt blasting hot air rushing onto her face. She'd been freezing cold in that bath a few moments ago, but now, she'd gladly retake it just to avoid the burning winds being directed at her face. As a girl, she knew she was supposed to brush off this discomfort and simply think about the finished product when she was done with her beauty treatment, but it was very hard for the young heiress. How did other women force themselves to suffer through this on a daily basis?

Hanabi noticed her slight wince as Shizune began running a comb through a particularly painful knot, and, for a brief moment, decided to actually comfort her sister instead of tease her.

"Just wait and see, big sister! When Lady Shizune is done, you're going to be the prettiest girl in the entire town!"

"Yes, I'll bet Ino Yamanaka will have nothing on you by the time we're done," Hitomi agreed. "Pretty girl, no question, but far too conceited! Seeing someone show up at Lady Anko's looking ten times better than her will for sure put her in her place!"

"M-Mother! Don't t-talk about Ino i-in that — o-oh!" Hinata gasped as Shizune accidentally pulled too hard on her hair as she began fixing it into an elegant bun with a white ribbon. "—in that w-way. It's n-not polite to g-gossip…"

"Hinata's right, Aunt Hitomi. But even so, I've heard that Ino's just going to Anko's as a simple formality. Word on the street is that her father's actually bribed Lady Anko to betroth her to the son of that wealthy artisan merchant in town."

"Are you referring to Sai?"

"Yes! That's his name!"

"T-Tenten!"

"Oops! Guess I started gossiping myself, huh?"

"Who cares about those people, anyway?" Hanabi quipped. "Today's all about Hinata! We should be talking about how all the men will be lining up outside the compound to make her their wife by the end of today, not stupid Ino!"

Hinata actually had to giggle a bit at her sister's choice of words, but doing so caused her to accidentally tug against Shizune's hands that were nearly finished stylizing her hair, and she gasped in slight pain.

"Careful, Lady Hinata!"

"M-My apologies!"

"In any event, Hanabi's right, Hinata," Hitomi said kindly. "Just wait and see! By this time tomorrow, you'll not only have every eligible bachelor in the village lining up at the compound, but every eligible man in all the Land of Fire!"

"R-Really…?" Hinata meekly asked, feeling a bit dazed at the prospect.

"Of course, Hinata! You're the Hyuuga clan heiress after all! Between your kekkei genkai and your unmatchable beauty, you're sure to start a riot at the compound gates!" Tenten exclaimed proudly.

For a moment, Hinata's smile fell from her face. Even if she did do well today with her interview, none of the men she would be paired with would actually want to marry her because they honestly loved her or simply thought she was a kind, compassionate person. They would want her because of her bloodline abilities, her birthright of being the clan heiress, and simply because she had a pretty face. The things her mother, her sister, and her cousin-in-law were telling her was well intended, but they were actually making her feel very sad.

"Finished!" Shizune suddenly exclaimed.

Hinata snapped out of her thoughts as a small hand mirror was suddenly shoved in front of her face. She was only allowed a few precious seconds to admire her new hairstyle before she was once again being ushered away to another area of the store. This time to where there was an assortment of beautiful formal kimonos, hand fans, and paper parasols on display for purchase.

"Hinata, I think it's only fair to tell you what to expect when you meet with Lady Anko," said Tenten, sounding rather serious as Shizune ordered Hinata to remove her robe so that she could appropriately measure her for a kimono. "Don't get me wrong, dear cousin! I love you dearly and I have full faith that you will do well today, but I was in your shoes this time last year, so I know exactly how nerve-wracking all of this is! Would you like me to give you some pointers on what to say?"

"Y-Yes, please!" Hinata gasped as the measuring tape wound around her neck momentarily, but afterwards Shizune turned to face Hitomi as she gestured to a series of kimonos on one particular rack.

"I have your daughters' measurements, Lady Hitomi. It's a little hard with her chest, but she'll fit well into one of these one's over here."

"We'll take the lilac one with the white flowers on the skirt with the white obi. Oh! And that parasol over there that matches it! They'll both go well with her eyes."

"As you wish."

"What about hand fans? Do you have one in lilac to match? One with white flowers painted on it as well would be preferable, but I won't be picky with that particular detail."

"As a matter of fact, yes! One moment, please!"

Shizune brought over the expensive lilac kimono with the matching white obi along with the parasol Hitomi had requested, and then vanished for a few moments before returning with a hand fan that matched the kimono and parasol. She began dressing her as Tenten, as well as Hitomi and Hanabi, began reeling off traits for Hinata to remember while in her marriage interview.

"Remember, cousin! Men want girls with good taste!"

"You must stay calm, big sister!"

"Be obedient to whatever Lady Anko asks of you to do, my daughter."

"Tell her you do your duties swiftly, but you never rush them!"

"Remind her of your noble breeding!"

"Bring up at the beginning about your tiny waist!"

Hitomi and Tenten immediately stared at Hanabi at her last comment, to which Hanabi returned with a cheeky grin.

Hinata's face was flaming hot in complete embarrassment over her sister's advice, but before she could begin spluttering out words about how she would definitely _not_ say anything like that, Shizune was tightening the obi around her mid-section. She tied it tighter than was generally comfortable for Hinata, though, and it made her oversized chest pop out a bit more than usual. She flushed even harder as she watched this happen in the floor-to-ceiling mirror a few feet away.

"C-Could you loosen the o-obi please?" she stuttered, crossing her arms over her chest a bit to hide her puffed out breasts. "It's… It's m-making my chest s-stick out…"

"But that's a good thing, Lady Hinata!"

"Yeah, big sis! If you ask me, if you've got it, flaunt it! I wish I had a chest like yours!"

"B-But… it's e-embarrassing…"

"Sweetheart, you should be proud of your body! I know I didn't have a body like yours when I met with my matchmaker when I was your age!"

"Many girls in this village would kill to have a chest like yours, Hinata! Me included!"

"Oh… O-Okay, then…"

"Ha!" said Tenten suddenly, bringing everyone's attention to her. "Men may think they have the harder job by being the ones who become ninjas and go off to war to bring honor to their clans, but we all know the truth! We are the ones who birth them their sons and heirs, after all!"

Her statement earned an honest laugh from Shizune, Hitomi, and Hanabi, but Hinata just blushed harder than ever, once again. She'd forgotten that particular detail. Once she was married, she would be expected to become pregnant with her husband's son as quickly as possible. Her mother was well respected in the clan for being the wife of the head of the family, but it wasn't exactly a well kept secret that people also tended to look down on her slightly, too. She had failed her father in producing a male heir. Hinata knew that although her father definitely loved her and Hanabi, she knew that he was still disappointed that he'd only been given daughters and no sons, and a nephew who should have been born into the main branch since he was a genius in their clan's ninja fighting style.

As soon as she was married and officially made head of the clan, she would be expected to rectify her mother's one failure as a wife. The thought was daunting to the generally shy girl.

"One last stop, Lady Hinata! We must beautify that pretty face of yours!"

For a final time, Hinata was dragged by Shizune, Hitomi, Hanabi, and Tenten to the last corner of the beauty salon, the make-up chambers. There was another chair here, and the table beside it was covered in all types of make-up products. She sat down on the chair, and Shizune immediately got to work on applying powder to her face. The stuff made Hinata want to cough or at least sneeze, but she forced herself to not move and stay silent as Shizune applied blush to both her cheeks to give them extra color, black eyeliner and light purple eye-shadow along with a dab of mascara to make her eyes pop out, and brushed a subtle pink gloss over her lips to make them more appealing. Although Hinata couldn't see what was happening, she had a feeling that it was really too much make-up, or at least more than what was really necessary.

When Shizune was finally finished, Hitomi, Hanabi, and Tenten all began gushing over her appearance as Shizune held up a mirror so Hinata could see her appearance.

"Darling, I have never seen you look more beautiful!"

"You look really amazing, sis! You can't fail today!"

"There has never been a prettier girl going to see her matchmaker! I know you definitely outshine how I looked last year!"

Hinata flushed as she examined her reflection in the mirror. It might be more than what she was generally used to and she might still feel a bit embarrassed, but overall, she had to admit that she did look very nice. She actually couldn't believe that the person staring back at her in the mirror was really her!

"I… I s-suppose I do look very l-lovely…" she admitted hesitantly, a nervous smile on her face.

Hitomi smiled at her daughter's approval over her appearance, and reached into the inner pocket of her kimono to pull out a small object wrapped up carefully in a dainty white handkerchief. She carefully unfolded it to reveal a beautifully crafted silver kanzashi hairpiece with soft purple lotus blossoms at the top.

"I wore this the day that I married your father," Hitomi told her as she fixed the kanzashi into her hair bun with careful, gentle fingers. "I've dreamt of the day when I could pass it on to my eldest daughter."

"M-Mother…" Hinata whispered, fighting the urge to let tears come to her eyes from this precious gift.

"It looks beautiful on you, Hinata. Hanabi? When it is your turn to meet with the matchmaker and eventually get married, you will wear it, too. It's a tradition on my side of the family that when a woman meets with a matchmaker and gets married, she wears something that her mother wore when she first became a bride."

For once, Hanabi did not tease Hinata or make a clever retort of some kind at her mother's words. She simply listened, awestruck, at the family tradition her mother had just revealed to them, and softly smiled as Hitomi, her eyes filled with proud and happy tears, gently set her index finger under her big sister's chin and tilted it upwards.

"There, you're ready," her mother breathed.

"Oh, not yet!" exclaimed Tenten. "She doesn't have any jewelry!"

Hinata watched as Tenten reached into her own robes, and pulled out a gorgeous necklace with pearls the size of marbles. Hinata gasped when she saw it. Even though she was noble-born, she had never seen pearls of that size with such a shine to them. It had to have cost a fortune!

"My father traded one of his finest katana swords for this a few weeks ago," Tenten exclaimed as she fastened the clasp around Hinata's neck. "He was going to give it to me, but I convinced him it would better suit you today instead. Pearls come from oysters, after all. They might not seem like much on the outside, but on the inside, there's true beauty! You must proudly show it today, dear cousin! You go to Lady Anko's today and show her that you are Hinata Hyuuga, the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, and beautiful both inside and out!"

"T-Tenten… I don't k-know what to s-say…"

"Well, don't say thank you yet, sis! You still haven't received my gifts! And unlike mother and Tenten, I got you two gifts!"

"Two, H-Hanabi…?"

"Yep! Look at these!"

The first thing she brought out also came from the inner pocket of her kimono. It was a bracelet stranded with a series of pearls. They weren't nearly as big as the pearls now around her neck, but they were nonetheless quite lovely, and Hinata could only feel humbled by her little sister's kindness and she slid the bracelet onto her right wrist.

"I bought this a little while ago while me, mother, and Tenten were waiting for you arrive! It's not expensive, I know, but I still thought it looked nice! But that's not my real present to you! This is!"

She rushed back over to the entrance of the store, but returned a moment later carrying the rabbit spirit in the tiny cage she had summoned for her elder sister earlier this morning.

"I woke up early this morning to summon this for you, Hinata! Her name is Usagi, and she's from our family shrine! Rabbit's are supposed to be lucky after all! It took me forever to get her to come out and even longer to get her into this cage, but I think it was worth it! What do you think?"

But Hinata didn't answer her. She just stared at little Usagi, who was currently staring up at her with big, bright eyes.

"What wrong, big sister? Do you not like her? If you don't, I understand… I guess it was kind of a silly—"

She was cut off by Hinata suddenly rushing forward and embracing her tightly, her eyes no longer able to hold back the tears that were gathering in them.

"Hanabi… T-This… This w-was so thoughtful of y-you… Thank you, my sweet l-little sister…"

Hanabi's eyes filled with tears of her own as she felt her sister's gratitude wash over her, but she couldn't help but try and squirm out of her grasp.

"Hey! Let go, sis! You're crushing me!"

"Dry your eyes, Hinata! We can't let the make-up run!" Hitomi gasped, quickly passing her eldest daughter a handkerchief.

As Hinata lightly dabbed at her eyes to stop the tears, Hanabi quickly clipped Usagi's cage to her obi. The little spirit had snow white fur, two round black eyes, two floppy ears, a bright pink nose, and was only about an inch and a half tall.

"There!" she said once the fluffy creature was fastened securely on. "With this bit of extra luck, even you can't blow it!"

Immediately, a hurt look spread across Hinata's face that she was unable to suppress. Did she really have such little faith from her family after all?

Hitomi and Tenten noticed her instant deflation at once.

"Hanabi, don't say such things! Hinata will for sure strike a good match today!"

"Yes, little cousin. You should think before you speak. You don't want to hurt your sister's feelings, do you?"

"No, you're right. Sorry, Hinata!"

"I-It's okay, Hanabi. Y-You weren't trying t-to be cruel…"

Hanabi smiled in relief for being forgiven for her tactless comment as Hitomi turned to face Shizune.

"I cannot begin to thank you for all you've done. You've made my eldest daughter look so, so beautiful!"

"It was no trouble at all, Lady Hitomi. If you will all please follow me to the front of the store, I'll ring up the cost of everything."

As the four Hyuuga women followed the beautician back to the cash register, Hinata brought her hands together and began reciting a quick prayer to herself under breath.

"Wise ancestors," she whispered. "Please hear my prayer. Don't let me embarrass the Hyuuga clan today. Help me to gain honor for my family…"

She had hoped that there would have been some sort of sign around her to let her know that her dearly departed family members had heard her prayer, like a soft breeze through her hair or something, but all was silent other than the bell ringing on the cash register as her mother paid for her beauty treatment. Hinata could only hope that her ancestors had heard her small prayer.

They all started to leave the shop, but then, quite suddenly, a loud gong rang out across the village.

Hitomi gasped. "That's the matchmaker's summons! Oh, Hinata! Hurry! We'll be right behind you! And don't forget your fan and the parasol!"

"Good luck, big sis!"

"We all believe in you, Hinata! Oh! And if Lady Anko offers you some dango, tell her no! It's a test, see. She wants to see if you're refined enough to turn down sweets!"

"O-Okay, then! I'm g-going now!"

"Do not worry, my dear daughter! We all know you will bring honor to us all!"

With quick hugs and kisses to all three of them and tucking the hand fan into the inner sleeve of her kimono and taking hold of the light purple parasol from her mother, Hinata dashed as best as she could in her fancy kimono ahead to where she could see other girls her age hurrying to Lady Anko's house.

She could spy Ino Yamanaka in line, and nodded to her briefly in greeting as she got in line behind her. She started to carry her closed parasol over her shoulder, but stopped upon realizing that she would have been the only one to carry it like that. She peered carefully around Ino to see how she and the other girls were carrying their paper parasols as they walked, and upon seeing that they were all carrying them in front of them with their chins held up high, she quickly mimicked them as best as she could.

She hoped she didn't seem too nervous to the rest of the village as they watched the small parade of dainty porcelain dolls continue on their way to the matchmaker's house. She might not truly feel completely confident in herself, but she knew that for at least the next hour while in her session, she would have to act like she was. It was the only way she would be able to bring honor to her father and the entire Hyuuga clan.

When they finally reached Lady Anko's house, the other girls formed a straight horizontal line directly in front of it, and gently unfolded their paper parasols. With slightly shaking hands, Hinata stumbled her way directly in the center of the line and also unfolded her lilac parasol, before kneeling down close to the ground like the other girls were doing with their parasols out in front of them as they waited for Lady Anko to begin summoning them each inside one-by-one.

They didn't have to wait long. The doors soon flung open sharply to reveal a young woman in her mid-twenties. She had bright purple hair that was fixed up into a spiky ponytail, and light brown eyes that were critical and sharp, matching the slight scowl that seemed to be plastered to her face. In addition to the brown clipboard and black pen she was carrying under one of her arms, she was wearing a long-sleeved kimono with a beige top and an orange skirt, and around her waist was a matching beige obi.

She eyed the girls waiting in line in front of her for a few seconds, and then looked down at the first name written down on her clipboard.

"Hinata Hyuuga!" she called out.

Hinata fought the urge to squeak nervously as she hurriedly stood up.

"Present!" she spoke out, mentally cheering that she had successfully managed to answer her summoning without stuttering.

Lady Anko's brows narrowed at her cheerful reply. "Speaking without permission," she tutted scoldingly as she scribbled something down on her notes.

"W-Whoops…" Hinata winced, quickly face palming herself as Ino and even a few other girls waiting in line shot her a few sympathetic smiles.

As she hesitantly walked forward into the matchmaker's house, Hitomi, Hanabi, and Tenten all whispered nervously amongst themselves from where they were watching on the sidelines.

"Jeez! Who do you think ate her secret stash of dango?" Tenten muttered.

Hanabi giggled. "Who knows? But I'll bet Hinata will give whoever it was a run for their money by the time she leaves."

As Lady Anko slammed the doors to her house sharply behind her and Hinata, Hitomi visibly cringed.

"Darling, that's what I fear most of all…"


	2. The Heiress's Resolve

**All right, it's been almost a week since this story was first posted, and I'm only now updating. The first thing I should say is that this chapter was finished since a few days ago, but I was waiting to send this off to my beta-reader to be critiqued. However, I haven't been able to contact her. I don't blame her, though. I'm sure she's busy with her own life, plus it was the Easter holidays. However, I don't wish to keep the rest of you readers waiting for this chapter, so I've just decided to post this chapter despite it not being looked over for possible grammar mistakes. I'm sure Silken Danser will understand.**

 **Anyway, I'm glad to see that I received six reviews for the very first chapter! Positive reviews are what fuel my creative juices, after all! I'd like to personally thank all the people who took the time to review Chapter One of A Hyuuga's Honor:**

 **\- ZabuzasGirl**

 **\- Guest (Next time, please leave your name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- NH Shipper (I love your alias! NaruHina forever!)**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- Grim Peasant**

 **\- Kakau**

 **This chapter was really fun to write! Two out of my three favorite scenes in the original Disney movie are in this chapter: the rendition of "Reflection," and Mulan's Decision, although in this case, it really should be considered Hinata's Decision. I do hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Please remember to review after reading! Reviews are what make me carve out these chapters so fast!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 4/1/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: The Heiress's Resolve**

Hinata bit her lower lip worriedly as she entered the main room of Lady Anko's home, pausing only momentarily to set her paper parasol down beside the front door. She couldn't believe how nervous she was, but she supposed she had a right to be. She already had a penalty point marked against her right off the bat. Unless she did everything else correct during this session, she could be branded as a loner and would dishonor her entire family! She had to stay focused.

As Anko seemed to slam the doors leading back outside shut, Hinata took a moment to look around the room. All in all, the room was very nice. The walls were painted a rich lavender color, and attached to the walls were a few paper lanterns, giving the room a warm glow. Silken rugs lined the floors, feeling very soft under her feet, and in each of the four corners there were scented candles, leafy plants, and a number of interesting looking urns. A handcrafted, dark-wooded low table was in the exact center of the room, and on the floor on either side of it there was a series of cushions for Lady Anko and her guests to sit down. In addition to a small serving plate of dango in the middle of the table, there was a charcoal house stove nearby, and a fancy teapot was boiling merrily over the flames.

She had just finished taking in the lovely design of the home when she felt a hand clasp down on her shoulder, and found herself being spun around by the matchmaker. Anko's eyes were critical and sharp as she carefully circled around the Hyuuga princess, examining her from head-to-toe. After a few moments, she grimaced.

"Skinny thing, huh? Not good. Makes it hard to bear good sons," she tutted, scribbling the note down on her clipboard. "Gotta admit, though, you've got a nice chest. That can definitely make up for it with the men."

Hinata's face flushed crimson. Half with humiliation, and the other half with embarrassment. It was one thing to hear that her chest was nice as a teasing remark from her family. It was another for it to be critically appraised, like Lady Anko was doing.

In the small cage attached to Hinata's hip, little Usagi's eyes were narrowing at Lady Anko. Hinata may not have been her summoner, but she was the elder sister of the one who had summoned her, and that made her equally as important. She knew that the matchmaker's words were making her mistress unhappy and embarrassed. With a few well timed kicks to the barred door, she managed to wriggle out of the cage and tried to hop right on top of the rude woman to bite her with her buckteeth. Hinata saw the little rabbit spirit escape, and quickly snatched her back before she could do anything. Usagi didn't understand why Hinata was stopping her, though. It was her duty as a spirit of the Hyuuga shrine to honor and protect Hyuuga descendants, be it from physical or verbal harm. She kept trying to wriggle free and go after the purple-haired woman.

With shaky hands, Hinata shoved the bunny into the sleeve of her kimono, her fist tightly wrapped around it. She mentally prayed that the little spirit would stay put!

Anko, who had been completely oblivious to everything that just happened with Hinata and the little spirit, finally turned. Upon seeing her so flustered, a sneaky smirk spread across her lips. "Recite the final admonition!" she barked, her honey sweet voice laced with a definite trace of threat.

Hinata snapped back to attention and quickly nodded. Although, she knew this wouldn't be easy to do. Between her normal stress over the situation combined with her stress over her wild rabbit spirit, she could only remember the first line of the admonition at the moment. Thank goodness she'd thought ahead and written those notes on her arm! She couldn't just read off her arm like this, though. Anko would be able to tell she was reading notes to herself. She'd have to pretend to be doing something else.

With a small mental prayer to every god and spirit she knew of that the little rabbit would stay hidden in the sleeve of her kimono, Hinata let go of Usagi and instead took out her lilac purple fan. She unfolded it with a quick flick of her left wrist, making the hem of her sleeve slip down slightly so as to expose the kanji symbols she'd written on her skin, and began fanning herself as she began to slowly repeat the admonition.

"Um… _F-Fulfill your duties c-calmly and—"_

"Don't stutter, girl! It's annoying! No man wants a woman who trips over her own words!" Anko barked.

"Right, sorry," Hinata apologized. She took a deep breath, and began reciting the admonition once again, this time trying hard to not stutter on her words. _"Fulfill your duties calmly and…"_ she trailed off momentarily as she spared a quick peek at the notes on her wrist, now all smudged slightly after the bath she'd gotten at the beauty parlor. _"…and r-respectfully._ Er… _Reflect before you snack. A-Act!"_ she quickly corrected herself upon realizing that she'd read the note wrong. _"This shall bring you honor and g-glory."_ She finished in a slight rush.

For a few long, agonizing seconds, Anko's eyes were critical as she stared at Hinata. Hinata fought the urge to gulp and sweat profusely. What was it? Did she copy the wrong line from her notes onto her wrist? Was she unimpressed? She only managed to stutter three times! Surely that wasn't _too_ bad, right?

Suddenly, Anko rushed forward and seized her paper fan right out of her hand. She didn't see the ink markings on her wrist; instead, Anko seemed to suspect that she had managed to cheat with her fan. After a careful inspection of both sides of the lilac paper, she finally seemed convinced that she was paranoid with her suspicions, and returned it to Hinata. Hinata breathed a deep breath of relief as she watched Anko jot down something on her notepad. That had been too close!

As soon as she was done, Anko seized hold of Hinata's wrist, and began dragging her to the small table beside the charcoal stove. "This way," she ordered.

Hinata fought the urge to tremble as she stared down at where Lady Anko was holding her wrist. Her _left_ wrist. The wrist with her notes on it!

The strict matchmaker only released her grasp on Hinata when they reached the table, but failed to notice that her hand was completely covered in ink. "All right, Ms. Hyuuga, take a seat," she said, waving her hand in the direction of one of the cushions. As Hinata sank down onto the cushion, Anko sat herself down rather daintily on the cushion opposite her. "Care for some dango?"

Hinata was about to reply yes, but then she remembered what Tenten told her just before she arrived.

"N-No, thank you, though," she replied politely.

Anko's expression was unreadable as she wrote down yet another note on the clipboard. When she was done, she turned over to try and take her fancy teapot off the coals and to take two small china cups off the small end table beside it.

Hinata quickly reached forward in her stead. "Allow me!" she offered, gingerly taking the handle of the teapot and wincing momentarily when she felt the heat of the handle against her bare skin. Anko actually seemed surprised by her helpfulness and jotted down yet another quick note. Hinata sincerely hoped that it was positive!

"Now, pour the tea," the strict woman ordered, looking up expectantly at Hinata. "To please your future in-laws, you must demonstrate a sense of dignity—" she closed her eyes momentarily as she put her ink-covered hand directly over her heart, and when she removed it, a large black hand print was left behind, which she once again failed to notice "—and refinement. You must also be poised," she added as an afterthought. She watched Hinata sharply to see if she would make even the slightest mistake.

Hinata nodded with a warm smile. She might stutter a lot, be rather clumsy at times, and was generally shy and not overly feminine with her style of wardrobe, but if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was pour tea. She'd been doing this for her father and Neji ever since she was a small child. This was something she knew she could impress Lady Anko with!

With a perfectly confident demeanor that was generally unseen in the shy girl, Hinata delicately picked up the teapot once again, and carefully poured the tea into Anko's china cup first, and then in her own before gently setting the kettle back down on the lavender tea cozy next to the plate of dango. Anko didn't even bother hiding how impressed she was by Hinata's calm demeanor as she did this, or by how graceful every move she made was as she was pouring the tea. She made a quick note of it down on the assessment sheet before reaching for her cup.

For someone who was supposed to be so critical and sharp about every movement and expression upon a girl's face from the moment they set foot inside her home, Anko was rather dim-sighted right then as she took her cup, because she failed to notice the suddenly horrified expression that was slowly spreading across the young Hyuuga heiress's face.

Hinata wasn't exactly sure how Usagi had managed to crawl out of the sleeves of her kimono without her noticing or feeling anything, but now the little rabbit spirit was half-climbing, half-hopping all the way up the side of Lady Anko's body by using her flowing kimono for something to grab onto. The tiny sprite's eyes were narrowed with rage, and her destination was the foul woman's head.

Hinata meekly reached out. "Um, p-pardon me—"

"Silence is also a virtue!" Anko snapped.

Hinata flinched back and bit her lip, praying that the sprite wouldn't end up doing anything drastic.

Anko was just taking a small sip of tea from her cup when little Usagi made her move. With a loud and angry squeak, the rabbit leapt forward from where it had managed to climb up to her shoulder, and landed on the top of her head. It began thumping its large feet angrily onto her scalp in a vain effort to try and hurt the woman who was being so rude to her mistress.

The mild attacks didn't really harm Anko at all, but they did succeed in scaring her. She screamed as she leapt up to her feet, her cup of tea splashing all over the front of her kimono as she dropped it, and began swatting at her hair, trying to knock Usagi off her head. She made big, jerky movements with her whole body as she did this, and failed to realize that she was moving too close to the coal stove. She tripped forward in her panic, and knocked the oven over. She managed to make Usagi fall off her head in the process, but now, the naughty rabbit spirit was the least of her worries, as her whole carpet was quickly being set ablaze, and the hem of her kimono was beginning to catch on fire, too.

Anko screamed even louder than before, and she started jumping up and down in her mad panic. "Ah! Help! Help! Fire!"

Seeing the fire snapped Hinata back to reality, and she quickly got to her feet. She collected the cushiony pillow she had been just sitting on, and then ran to where the fire was spreading on the carpet. She beat the pillow down repeatedly on the flames until the minor house fire was all gone, and then turned to try and figure out how best to help Lady Anko. In her scramble for help, the matchmaker had run in the direction of the front door.

Wanting nothing more than to correct the accident that had been caused by her rabbit spirit's good-intentions, Hinata snatched up the fancy teapot and rushed after her.

* * *

Everyone outside who was waiting quietly for the first session to end jumped when they heard Anko scream inside the house. Those who were especially uneasy now were the three Hyuuga women. Hitomi gasped, Tenten flinched, and Hanabi gave a nervous chuckle.

"That doesn't necessarily mean things are bad…" she offered hopefully to her mother and cousin-in-law. "Maybe it was a scream of delight!"

She was quickly proven wrong when the front door to the home slammed open, and Anko burst through them with the skirt of her kimono on fire and thick black clouds surrounding her. The front part of her kimono was saturated with tea and covered in black ink. She was quite a mess, but what really made her look as though she'd lost her last shred of dignity was the fact that she was jumping up and down in absolute panic from the fire slowly climbing up her legs.

"Put it out! Put it out! Put it out!" she shrieked.

Hinata then appeared in the doorway with the teapot, and quickly doused Lady Anko with the liquid inside to put out the fire. Anko slipped in the puddle left behind, and the young heiress quickly grabbed her arm as she nearly fell.

"L-Lady Anko! Are y-you all right?!" Hinata gasped, worried that she might have twisted something or possibly gotten burned.

But when the matchmaker turned to look at her, Hinata realized that she wasn't injured, she was simply furious and humiliated. It didn't matter that Hinata had tried to warn her about the rabbit before all this happened, how she prevented her house from burning down, or how she had just technically saved her life. She didn't think about how Hinata had qualities of quick-thinking, bravery, or kindness. All she thought about was how this whole mess made her look in front of the entire town, and she glared hatefully at the blue-haired girl.

Hinata trembled under Anko's unwavering glare. She had to get out of there. Now. Before the woman exploded.

She gently handed the purple-haired woman the teapot, gave a small, nervous bow, and then reached back inside the house momentarily to retrieve her parasol before hurrying down the steps leading back down to the main street to rejoin her family. She could apologize and explain what had happened during the session later. Right now, she had to leave.

As she hurried down the steps, Usagi went hopping out of the house after her, climbed back into her cage, and shut the door behind her as she gazed back up at the enraged woman. This had gone further than what she had originally intended, and she was ashamed of herself for causing the whole mess in the first place. All she had wanted was to get back at the matchmaker for being rude to Lady Hinata. She never wanted to make her so mad that she would blame Hinata for what had happened!

As Hinata finally managed to reach her family, Anko seemed to snap out of her thoughts, and went barreling down the steps after the heiress. Hinata gulped nervously as Anko's fuming red face appeared in front of the four of them.

"You… You are a disgrace!" she screamed at Hinata, not caring that she was humiliating the Hyuuga heiress in front of the entire town as she smashed the china teapot at her feet. Why shouldn't she humiliate the stupid girl? She had already humiliated her, after all!

Hinata's eyes burned with unshed tears as Hitomi gently held her elbow, Tenten put a hand on her shoulder, and Hanabi clung to her kimono. She had no words at all for how sorry she was for what had happened.

"You may look like a bride, but you will never bring honor to your family or clan!" Anko spat. "You… You are unfit! Get out of my sight! And you, Lady Hitomi—" she jerked her head to glare hatefully at the Hyuuga matriarch. "—don't you dare send this other daughter of yours to me when she comes of proper age! I will never service the Hyuuga clan again!"

And with that, the ruined matchmaker spun around and stormed back inside her house, slamming the door behind her with a loud thud.

Hinata was completely still as whispers broke out through the large crowd that had gathered around the matchmaker's home. They were all talking about her. She hung her head in shame, fighting back tears as Tenten and Hanabi both hugged her in silent comfort. Hitomi was sending dirty looks to anyone she caught pointing at her eldest child, but her hands were gently squeezing Hinata's shoulders, silently telling her that things would be okay.

But Hinata knew deep down that things would not be okay. She had failed. The one duty a woman, particularly her as the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, was supposed to do in order to bring honor to her family was strike a worthy match with a matchmaker.

But she had failed. She had failed her family and the entire clan.

She'd brought dishonor to them all.

* * *

Everyone was silent on the walk home. Hitomi, Hanabi, and Tenten were all quiet as they worriedly watched Hinata lead Rin by his reins down the path back to the compound, all three of them ready to start comforting the girl the moment she finally broke down and started crying.

But Hinata did not cry. She already knew she'd dishonored them all by failing to impress Lady Anko today, and she had to stay strong for when she told her father and Neji her failure as well. She couldn't afford to start crying yet. She'd have to wait until she was alone to let her tears fall, so she bottled her feelings deep inside, unwilling to let them roam free just yet.

As the four of them walked inside the main gates leading back into the compound, Hinata came to an abrupt halt when she saw just who was waiting for her at the front doors leading into the main house.

Her father and Neji were there, with expectant smiles on their faces as they waited to hear the news, eager to know if she had gotten any worthy matches. They were expected faces, though. What she had not been expecting were the two elders who had cornered her earlier this morning waiting there as well, their faces neutral, but their eyes sharp and ready to judge the young heiress on the ranking of the men she should have been given the option to be matched with and possibly betrothed to.

Hinata froze when she saw the elders, her grip upon Rin's reins tightening in her momentary panic. In her worry for how she would tell her father and cousin about her failure, she'd completely forgotten how she was supposed to explain herself to the Hyuuga council. She was sure Neji would forgive her, and although she knew her father would surely be disappointed in her, she would like to think that he would be like her mother and tell her that everything would be okay in his own stern way. But the elders? The elders would not stand for the heiress dishonoring the entire clan. She knew they would be absolutely furious with her failure, and would probably finally convince her father to strip her of her title as heiress and instead officially make Hanabi the new heir.

It was too much for the young girl, and the moment she saw Hiashi and Neji start to walk forward to ask her how everything went, she hung her head shamefully and slowly turned to lead Rin back to the stables. She didn't care that she left Hitomi, Hanabi, and Tenten there alone to explain to everyone what had happened. She needed to be alone right now.

Upon unsaddling and unbridling her stallion and putting him back in his stall, Hinata made her way to the clan gardens. As she approached a bed of colorful flowers near the main pond on the grounds, Hinata reached behind her for the cage containing little Usagi, which was still attached to her hip. The little bunny was looking up at her with remorseful, sad eyes, silently begging the Hyuuga princess to forgive her. Hinata returned the look with a sad, bittersweet smile as she unlocked the cage.

"I-It's okay, little U-Usagi," Hinata said gently, kneeling down slightly and holding out the cage so the rabbit could hop out into the flowerbed. Sooner or later the little spirit would return to the temple. "I'm s-sure you meant w-well… B-Besides, she wasn't a v-very nice person, w-was she?"

Usagi nestled her small furry head against her palm to again express how sorry she was, feeling more than thankful that her mistress had forgiven her. Hinata smiled kindly before straightening up again and then continuing on in the direction of the watery pond. Usagi watched her go with a wrinkle of her pink nose and a small, sad squeak.

Hinata gazed down at her own reflection in the surface of the pond. Despite her melancholy expression, she still looked absolutely beautiful, as the ideal bride her mother, sister, and Tenten had been able to groom her into this morning: refined, proper, graceful, and all but perfect in every single way. Today though had proven to her that she truly wasn't the perfect daughter her immediate family had desired her to be, or the elegant heiress that the Hyuuga elders strived for her to become.

She was, in every sense, a failure.

A disappointment.

An embarrassment.

Dishonorable.

It was clear to the young noblewoman now that she would never pass any of the expectations that those on the clan council would always hold over her head, nor would she ever likely become the perfect girl her family would forever ask her to be. Pretending to be those things were part of a role she just wasn't capable of playing.

Tears gathered in her eyes as she gently unclasped the pearl necklace and slipped off the pearl bracelet that Tenten and Hanabi had given her, and she put them away in the sleeves of her kimono as she shuffled off miserably in the direction of the small footbridge over the pond. Despite the beauty surrounding her with the breathtaking flowers or how beautiful she herself knew she looked, Hinata did not feel as happy as she usually would when walking through the clan gardens right now. Things were just too wrong for her to be happy.

As she walked across the white bridge, cherry blossom petals lazily blew in the breeze and circled around her, fluttering down upon the bridge and sending gentle ripples throughout the pond. She contemplated sitting down for a moment on the railing and looking out across the pond as she had done many times before her Uncle Hizashi had died, back when she and Neji were younger and when Hanabi was but a very small child, but then decided against it. Should someone from either the main family or the branch family see her doing such an unrefined thing, it would only cause more problems.

Things had been so much simpler for her back when she was younger. Yes, as the clan heiress, she had been expected to behave a certain way, but things had been more lenient for her back then as she was still only a child. If she were to play and get dirty back then, her mother would scold her for looking less than ladylike, but she would forgive her with a smile and an amused shake of her head, and the council members would frown, but otherwise look the other way. If she were to get her nicer clothes dirty with dirt and grass stains now, her mother would frown and look at her with a disappointed expression, and the clan elders would scorn her and whisper amongst themselves as soon as she was gone about what an embarrassment she was to the entire clan.

If she were to ever truly be herself, she would break her family's heart, and almost for sure would be officially branded with the caged seal of servitude belonging to the branch family as soon as Hanabi was named the new heiress.

She passed by a stone statue of a large tree with ten thick branches as she continued her sad stroll. When she was really little, the statue had always appeared ominous to Hinata, the way it had a single large eye carved into its trunk that seemed to stare right into her soul. Now though, it seemed to beckon her to take refuge under its stone branches and cry her soul out underneath it. Hinata did indeed make her way towards it to rest for a few moments, but instead of crying, she continued gazing at her reflection in the pond.

The girl wearing the beautiful, lavish lilac kimono with her indigo-colored hair pulled up in an elegant bun decorated with a lovely kanzashi was both her, but not her at the same time. It was the girl she knew everyone expected her to be, or to at least strive to become, but Hinata knew that the girl staring straight back at her from the surface of the pond wasn't who she was. It was a completely different person, one who, if she ever managed to succeed in replicating her again, would lead a miserable life as she spent every day fighting against her own will as she strived to make everyone except herself happy. But as a woman, it was what she knew she would have to do. Why was it that her reflection was taunting her, continuing to show her a girl that she didn't know?

A lone tear slid down her right cheek as she thought about this, and she kicked a small pebble near her foot into the pond to distort her watery mirror image before continuing on in the direction of the clan shrine. She owed it to the ancestors of the clan to apologize for failing in her duties as the clan heiress today and dishonoring them all.

She slowly climbed up the stone steps leading up to the shrine, and took a moment to remove her shoes before going inside. Someone from the branch family must have recently cleaned the temple after her father and Neji had finished their morning prayer, because all the plaques with the names of the Hyuuga ancestors and the statues of the family guardians and spirit companions were all fresh-looking and shining brightly without a single speck of dust or dirt anywhere to be seen, and the stone floor had definitely been scrubbed clean since she was here earlier. The ancestral plaques were actually so clean, they almost seemed to act like mirrors surrounding her, and Hinata was once again confronted with her sad, unrecognizably ladylike reflection as she entered.

Hinata actually flinched when she saw herself reflected back in all of the ancestral tablets. It was like her ancient family members were aware of their descendant's failure today and were scorning her for failing them all by continuing to show her, in their own way, what she was supposed to be like.

With a nervous gulp, Hinata got down on her knees, clapped her hands together, and then bowed down low to the ground in front of the largest plaque of the very first members of the Hyuuga clan as she paid her respects.

"H-Honorable ancestors," she said in a stuttering whisper, doing her best to not sob as she said her prayer. "I… I h-humbly ask you all t-to forgive me… I h-have failed you all t-today… I have b-brought dishonor to y-you all and to t-the entire Hyuuga clan b-by failing with Lady A-Anko… I'm so s-sorry… I tried m-my very best to h-hide who I really am, b-but I couldn't do it… I am s-sincerely sorry…"

As she sat back up, she stared at her perfect reflection in the polished silver for a long time. Shizune must have used waterproof make-up on her earlier at the beauty salon, because despite her tears, the make-up on her face was still flawlessly done, showing no signs whatsoever that she had been crying. She disliked how she did not look like herself right then. She shouldn't look the perfect heiress she was supposed to be when she had truly failed everyone who had been depending on her today. She wanted this make-up off her face, and she wanted it off now.

Hinata looked around hurriedly for something she could use to clean her face with besides ruining the sleeve of her kimono, and spied a rag that had been used to polish the silver plaques. Whoever had been in here to clean must have dropped it on their way out. She'd have to remember to take it back into the compound later on. With a few more tears sliding down her cheeks, she brought the rag up to her face, and gently wiped away all the beautiful make-up on the left side of her face.

She was about to start wiping away the right side of her face next, but upon catching sight of her reflection, she paused momentarily. She looked half perfect and beautiful, the other half plain and herself. A yin-yang Hinata Hyuuga. She personally preferred the left half of her face that was simple and plain, but her reflection only showed that being herself was overshadowed by the beauty left behind on the right side of her face. Even her own reflection liked it better when she behaved and looked like the perfect heiress. When would it show and reflect a better image of herself when she looked and acted how she really was inside?

With a sigh, Hinata looked away from the mirroring plaques as she wiped away the rest of the face powder, removed the ornamental purple lotus kanzashi hairpiece from her head, and let down her hair from the elegant bun it had been skillfully arranged in.

She tearfully stood up, gave a final bow of farewell to the Hyuuga family plaques, and sadly left the shrine. She slipped her shoes back on outside and then slowly made her way toward a bench underneath a large cherry tree hidden in the furthest reaches of the garden. When she was but a very small girl, her mother would take her out most Spring afternoons and they would have mother-daughter time together. Her mother would often sing softly to her as she combed her hair, or would tell her stories as they had picnic lunches and she taught her how to best preserve the prettiest flowers. Once Hanabi was born, her mother would cradle her sister to her bosom and tell Hinata that as her big sister, she would have to always love and protect Hanabi. Hanabi would look to her elder sister as an example, so Hinata would always have to be a kind, compassionate being. Doing so was easy for Hinata, as she already adored her new precious sister. As she and her sister grew up and their mother was called away at times to attend her duties as the matriarch of the family, she and Hanabi would often come out here and play, dubbing this spot as their unofficial secret place. Before her Uncle Hizashi died and Neji started to hate them for a long time, he would occasionally join them, and they would all play together and have a marvelous time.

There were many happy memories involved with this location, but now, it had become Hinata's sanctuary for where she could finally cry out her feelings for failing both her clan and everyone she loved today.

A few heartfelt sobs escaped her lips as she sat down on the marble bench, but she refused to start full out bawling. She set the kanzashi hairpiece her mother had given to her on her lap, and began running her fingers through her waist-length indigo hair as she reflected on her many failures. So long as she remained here, underneath the gently falling cherry blossoms, she could hide away from the whole world for as long as she wished.

Or at least, that was what she had hoped for.

She'd only been sitting there a few minutes when she spied Hanabi, Neji, and Tenten making their way toward her from across the gardens.

Hinata stayed very still as she watched them approach. She knew they were going to try to cheer her up, but she didn't know how they could help her right now. Nothing they could say would change the fact that she'd failed everyone today.

Hanabi and Tenten both sat themselves down on the bench on either side of her, and Neji leaned up against the bark of the tree. All of them were smiling kindly at the saddened heiress.

There was a brief silence as everyone waited for someone else to say something. It was finally broken by Hanabi.

"Big sister?" she said slowly.

Hinata didn't answer her, nor did she look at her, or Neji and Tenten. She just stared sadly down at her lap as she willed herself to stop crying and not to further embarrass herself in front of her family.

"You don't have to be ashamed of yourself, Hinata. Lady Anko is a difficult woman to please! I know I only just barely managed to scrape past when I met her!" Tenten said kindly.

Hinata still didn't respond. She was quite certain that that was a lie. Tenten flourished as a young woman. She had probably breezed through her marriage interview last year with flying colors.

"Lady Hinata," said Neji rather seriously, as compassion wasn't exactly his strong suit. "You don't have to talk to us if you don't want to, but you should know that your parents, in particular your father, are currently in a meeting with the clan elders right now."

Hinata hung her head as her worst fears were officially confirmed.

"F-Father's officially demoting m-me as heiress, r-right?" she softly murmured.

To her surprise, her sister and cousins actually smiled.

"That's where you're wrong, cousin."

"Father's actually trying to convince all those jerks on the council to make sure you _stay_ heiress, sis!"

Hinata's mind went completely blank at this revelation.

"W-What…?"

"That's right, Hinata! Those stuffy elders were about ready to throw a fit after you left, but Aunt Hitomi and Uncle Hiashi immediately called a meeting to shut them all up! They sent us here to keep you company while they remind them all just who exactly is in charge of this clan!" Tenten explained with a proud smile.

"Uh-huh! They should be getting done any minute now! They said they wanted to talk to you afterwards!" Hanabi added.

Hinata bit her lower lip worriedly. The fact that her parents wanted to speak with her after this important meeting could mean many different things. She didn't dare get her hopes up that their words would be comforting and understanding rather than cold and disappointed. The clan elders had always been known to sway her father's mind many times in the past, after all.

They didn't have to wait long. A short time later, the quartet soon spotted Lord Hiashi and Lady Hitomi strolling purposefully through the gardens toward them.

Hinata's mouth instantly dried. She didn't know what to say to her parents to try and make up for today. She had dishonored them both, but in particular her father. She had promised him this morning that she would not disappoint him, but she had failed him. He had every right to be angry with her.

As Tenten moved aside so Hinata's mother could take her seat on the bench beside her and her father hobbled over on his crutch toward Neji to stand next to the tree trunk, Hinata initially hung her head, too ashamed of herself to meet her parent's gazes as her eyes began tearing again. When she finally glanced back up at them, she began stammering out her apologies.

"M-Mother… F-Father… I—"

Hiashi held up a hand to silence her, his expression completely unreadable.

Hinata instantly closed her mouth, and waited to hear the lecture she knew she was about to receive.

To her surprise, her mother smiled at her.

"There's no need to cry, darling. We just spoke with the rest of the council. Your position is still safe."

Hinata blinked.

"W-What?"

"You're still our heiress, sweetheart. There were some who were fighting to demote you because of today, but your father and I made sure to put them in their place! They won't be troubling you anytime soon."

"I… I'm n-not going to be s-sent to the branch f-family? Or… or b-banished from the clan…?" she whispered, not believing her ears.

Hanabi instantly glared at her.

"Big sis! Is that honestly what you were afraid of?! You've got an even bigger imagination than me to think up nonsense like that!" she shrilled.

"Your mother and I would never allow such a thing, Hinata," said her father, his voice unusually kind and soothing for once. "You are our daughter, and the true heiress to this family. Nothing anyone says will ever change that."

"It doesn't matter what those on the council might say or what that horrible matchmaker labeled you as," Hitomi exclaimed. "You are Hinata Hyuuga, our first-born daughter, the future leader of this clan, and we love you more than anything."

Hinata couldn't believe her own ears.

"B-But… I failed! I d-dishonored you all t-today! I… I'm such an e-embarr—"

"Do not call yourself such a thing, Lady Hinata," Neji interrupted. "You are the furthest thing from an embarrassment."

"Neji's right, Hinata," said Tenten, nodding in obvious agreement. "No one tries harder than you do at striving to improve yourself, and I dare you to find anyone else in this clan who is as kind and compassionate as you are!"

Hiashi shut his eyes and nodded solemnly in agreement. "Besides, daughter, there are still other ways for you to get a husband without Lady Anko's help."

"Yeah! You don't need that stupid matchmaker's help, sis!" Hanabi piped, gently squeezing her hand. "She's ugly, anyway! That job she has is her favorite pastime after pigging out on dango because she gets to be as critical as she wants! And what does she even know about love?! She's not married or in a relationship! Mother! Father! What were you two thinking when you sent Hinata to that horrible woman?!"

Everyone, even Hinata, laughed at the honest truth in her exclamation.

"I'll admit, Hanabi, you have a valid point there," said Hitomi, gently patting her youngest child's cheek. "Hinata, don't you worry! You just leave everything to me and your father! We can _both_ be your matchmakers! We'll start searching for wealthy single men and strong ninjas in nearby villages, too! You don't need any old sap Lady Anko would have set you up with! You need a man with strength and class!"

"Everything will be fine, Hinata," said Hiashi, shuffling forward on his crutch so that he was standing directly in front of her. He gently picked up the kanzashi hairpin that Hinata had left on her lap, swept a portion of her blue hair behind her ear, and gently fixed the purple hairpiece in place. "You, my daughter, are just like this cherry blossom tree. When you bloom, you will be the most beautiful blossom of all."

A genuine smile spread across Hinata's face as she gazed up at her father. Relief was flowing through her veins at the knowledge that she had been forgiven for her failure today with the matchmaker and had not dishonored him or the rest of the clan. She could not remember a time that she had been so happy and blessed to have been born her parent's child.

"T-Thank you, father," she whispered, her eyes shining with unshed, happy tears.

Hiashi smiled back as he patted her cheek. He opened his mouth to speak, but was abruptly cut off by a rather sudden, loud thumping noise. Much like that of a drum somewhere off in the distance.

All of them immediately turned and looked out across the expanse of the gardens toward the main entrance to the compound, because beyond it was the old village watchtower. The ninja currently manning it was steadily beating the drum within, calling the attention of everyone in the village that someone of importance was rapidly approaching. And in the far off distance, they could just barely make out the sound of blasting trumpets.

Hanabi looked up at the elder members of her family. "What's going on?"

Neji was the one who answered her, his brows furrowed with both confusion and worry. "Our village seems to have unexpected visitors from the Imperial City."

"The Imperial City?!" Hanabi repeated, her pearlescent eyes big and wide at the revelation. While it wasn't exactly uncommon for ninjas in the Imperial City to come to the village to put out drafting notices for the ninjas here to take up missions, the village was usually given at least a week's notice in advance, that way the shinobi in the village could have time to pack supplies and be prepared to leave at a moment's notice should a mission require time to be of the essence. Neji had been on a number of such missions himself in his short career as a new shinobi. For ninjas from the Imperial City to appear out of the blue like this was rather unexpected, not to mention possibly alarming.

Everyone slowly left the security of the clan gardens and made their way toward the main gate leading out of the compound. Beyond it, they could see a large crowd gathering in the main square of the village. Everyone in town seemed to be swarming around their mysterious visitors. This was far too interesting for them to easily brush aside.

Hyuuga's from both the main family and the branch family were slowly leaving the compound and heading in the direction of the square. They, too, were curious as to what was going on.

With a solemn expression, Hiashi also joined the crowd of Hyuuga's walking toward the square. As the head of the Hyuuga main branch, for him not to show up would be disrespectful of the entire clan. Neji immediately followed him, and Tenten followed after her husband. As Hinata and Hanabi tried to go along, however, Hitomi immediately held out an arm to bar their path.

"Hinata, Hanabi? You girls stay inside," she ordered before hurrying after her husband, nephew, and new niece. The last time visitors had appeared like this out of the blue was when the Third Great Ninja War broke out back when Hinata and Neji were children and Hanabi was a mere toddler. Hitomi couldn't do anything to shield Neji as he was a young man now and it was his duty to hear things like this, and Tenten belonged wherever her husband was, but she could protect her two daughters by keeping them out of sight and away from the news.

Hanabi huffed and crossed her arms as she tried jumping up and down repeatedly to try and peer over people's heads, but she still couldn't see. Hinata glanced around anxiously for a way for them both to catch a glimpse of what was going on, and then smiled as she saw a large tree right over near the wall of the compound. The tree was very tall and sturdy, so it would easily be able to support herself and her sister as they peeked. She discreetly nudged Hanabi to get her attention.

"This w-way," she pointed.

Hanabi smiled, and obediently followed after her big sister as Hinata led her toward the tree. Hinata bent down, and helped Hanabi to climb up onto the lowest limbs first before carefully climbing up after her. Together, they managed to maneuver themselves up high enough so they would be able to peer over the wall.

They caught a glimpse of most of those in their clan joining the throng, and they could clearly see the rest of their immediate family jostling their way through the crowd in order to see for themselves just what was going on. In the middle of the village square, surrounded by all of their neighbors, were three ninja-trained horses and noble-born ninjas. The Hokage's personal advisor Ebisu was the ringleader of the grand trio, and he was holding up a hand for silence so as to begin his important speech.

Hanabi was still very young, and did not know everything there was to know when it came to nobility despite being noble-born herself, but even she was able to recognize the crest of the newly formed Japan on the imperial flags that the other two ninjas were holding up.

"Those flags! Those men are from the Imperial City!" she gasped. "What are they doing all the way out here, big sis?"

Hinata frowned. "I… I d-don't know, Hanabi," she whispered.

The murmuring of the crowd eventually died down, and Ebisu immediately cleared his throat and began his important speech.

"Citizens! I bring a proclamation from the Imperial City! The Sound Ninjas have invaded Japan!" he declared.

Gasps of shock and worry spread like wildfire throughout the crowd as the village absorbed this startling news. Young mothers immediately began hurrying their younger children away from the square and back inside their respective homes, as though afraid that the enemy shinobi would suddenly appear right then and kill them all. From where Hinata was watching from her perch over the wall, she could see Tenten's eyes widening at the news as she clutched Neji's hand tightly, and her mother was rigid as her father set his hand on her trembling shoulder.

Hanabi was horrified by this unexpected declaration of war, and she instantly turned to face Hinata. "The Sound Ninjas got through the great defense?! But… But how?!"

Hinata literally had to force herself to stop shaking and to sound strong for her precious sister as she replied. "It's j-just a wall, Hanabi. S-Someone would h-have done it eventually…"

Hanabi was trembling with pure fear, and she opened her mouth to keep asking questions, but was distracted when Ebisu quickly brought out a sealed scroll from inside the ninja pouch attached to his leg. He continued speaking as the two ninjas who had accompanied him here brought out a large quantity of other sealed scrolls from the canopy bags that were over their shoulders, and the two sisters focused their attention back on him.

"By order of each of the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent, one man from every family must serve in the Allied Shinobi Forces."

Ebisu unrolled the scroll in his hand with the list of family names and called out the first name.

"The Yamanaka clan!"

Hinata and Hanabi's eyes zeroed in on Ino Yamanaka standing off to the side with her own clan. Ino, who had looked so beautiful only this morning when on her way to the village matchmaker, was now openly crying as she and her mother watched her father Inoichi step forward, bowing respectfully to Ebisu and the other two ninjas as he accepted his drafting notice. Hinata's face fell as she watched the Yamanaka patriarch return to his family with a solemn expression. She wasn't all that close with Ino, but she knew her father was a good man, and a superb shinobi, having served in the Third Great Ninja War himself many years ago alongside her late uncle and father. It was sad that he was being forcibly called back to action once again, but there was a good chance he might return. She'd have to remember to pray for the safe return of the father of her female acquaintance later on tonight before bed.

"The Kitagawa clan!"

Kitagawa? That was a civilian family Hinata herself had never been acquainted with. It was composed of only an elderly man and his only son in his mid-thirties. The older man hobbled forward to accept the notice, but his son quickly stepped forward and stopped him from taking it.

"I will serve in the Allied Forces in my father's place," he proudly declared.

The ninja handing out the scrolls nodded in acceptance and handed him the scroll instead. His father looked saddened at the knowledge that his only son would be going off to war, but he didn't object. He knew he was far too old to fight.

"The Hyuuga clan!"

"No!" Hanabi gasped as she immediately looked down into the crowd at their cousin. "Neji!"

Hinata had to bite down on her tongue in order to stay calm. There was no doubt in her mind that she was scared for her cousin, but she knew that this was simply an instinctual reaction when in reality, there was absolutely nothing to fear. Neji was young and strong. He was a master in their clan's secret ninja fighting arts. He would return home alive from this war. It was finally his turn to bring great honor for their clan. He would return home most likely carrying the personal sword of Orochimaru on his hip, and would present it to their father to add to the collection of honorable objects that many of their ancestors had brought home from their own glory days in battle that had been bestowed to them from doing great deeds for their country.

Neji would be okay, no questions asked.

It was easy for her to tell herself that, but apparently it wasn't so easy for Tenten to remember. The young bride was shaking as she squeezed her husband's arm, not wanting to let him go and accept his drafting notice. This wasn't fair! They had only been married two months ago, and now, her wonderful husband that she'd grown to love with all her heart was being forced to go to war to defend their country. Deep down, she knew she was being silly. Neji was one of the strongest fighters the Hyuuga clan had produced in generations after all, but he was still her husband, and there was still a chance that he could die the first day he was sent out to the front lines. What she wouldn't give for someone else, anyone else, to step forward and take his place instead!

With a small, barely heard sigh, Neji gently pecked Tenten's cheek before calmly removing her hands from his arm. He had always told himself when he was younger that he couldn't wait for the day to come when he was called to arms to uphold the honor for his clan and follow in his father's footsteps, but now, he'd do anything to not be forced to step forward and take that notice. He was a married man now, and he had wanted to spend the rest of his days with his lovely Tenten and hopefully start a family with her.

That dream seemed unlikely to come true now.

He had no choice but to accept his fate.

Or at least, that was what he thought.

The young Hyuuga branch member started to step forward to accept the scroll, but a large hand suddenly barred his path, preventing him from going any closer.

Neji looked up to see the face of his stoic uncle lightly shaking his head at him.

Neji stared at him, confused, as did Tenten, Hitomi, and Hinata and Hanabi from their hiding spot on the wall.

What was going on? Why was Hiashi preventing Neji from accepting the drafting notice? Neji didn't have a choice, after all! The Four Kage's and the Kage Regent had sent out an imperial decree for one man from every family to fight! Neji was the strongest ninja in the clan! Despite being a member of the branch family, it was all but pre-ordained for him to accept the spot preserved in the Allied Forces for the Hyuuga clan!

Everyone's questions were answered when Hiashi suddenly turned to Hitomi, and handed her his crutch. Hitomi froze in horror, Tenten went white, and Neji's mouth became very dry as they watched the head of the clan start walking as best as he could toward Ebisu and the other two ninjas in Neji's stead to accept the conscription scroll.

Up on the wall, Hanabi was lightly crying as she watched their father make his way through the crowd, but Hinata was completely stunned and not wanting to believe her own eyes. What was her father doing?! He had an injured leg! He was in no condition to be fighting in a war! He wouldn't last a single day out on the battlefield! Neji should be the one going, not him. With Neji, there was still a chance he would return home again. With Hiashi, there was no doubt whatsoever that he would die.

With that thought in mind, Hinata leapt over the wall all but ignoring her sister's startled yelp, and dashed as best as she could through the crowd in her formal kimono as she struggled to reach her father before he accepted that recruitment scroll.

"Father, no!" she screamed.

Heads in the crowd immediately turned toward the hysterical heiress as she flung herself in between her shocked father and the rather unimpressed Kage councilman, who was peering down at her over the rim of his dark sunglasses.

"Hinata!" Hiashi hissed.

But Hinata ignored her father and gazed up pleadingly at the Hokage advisor.

"Please, sir! Don't take my father! He's already fought bravely for—"

"Enough!" snapped the uptight Ebisu. He turned to look directly at Hiashi. "Lord Hyuuga? I would have expected that you would have taught your daughter to hold her tongue while in a man's presence."

Hiashi's gaze was cold as he looked back at Hinata. "Hinata, you are embarrassing me. Go to your mother. Now."

Hinata's mouth went dry at how her father had so easily dismissed her. She never intended to embarrass him. She just loved him dearly and didn't want to see him die! She opened her mouth to protest, but Neji and Tenten suddenly appeared and gently steered her back toward where the rest of their clan was standing. Her mother's eyes were filled with tears as she clutched her father's crutch, but she was sending dirty looks to anyone in the clan, main family or branch family, who dared to start whispering about their heiress's humiliating display. Those who had started gossiping were immediately silenced by the matriarch's glare, but the ones who were not at all intimidated were those on the clan council. They were openly glaring at the red-faced Hyuuga princess, scorning her with silent, enraged shame as they mentally filed away this dishonorable incident into the back of their minds to be added to the long list of reasons as to why Hinata was not suited for her role as the clan heiress.

Hanabi suddenly appeared in the crowd, too upset to stay where she had been spying on the proceedings from her perch on the wall, and began openly crying as she hugged her elder sister. Hinata was only vaguely aware of her own body as she hugged her back, as her eyes were glued on her father as he calmly accepted the drafting notice without another word exchanged between him and Ebisu, and then slowly made his way back toward the compound. She, her mother, Tenten, Neji, and Hanabi all moved forward so as to speak with him as he went back inside the clan grounds, but Hiashi walked past them as though he didn't even see them. He didn't even stop long enough to retrieve his crutch from Hitomi when she silently offered it to him. He just continued walking past and into the manor.

Hitomi sighed, but wordlessly followed her husband back inside. It was only when they were both gone that Hinata managed to find her voice.

"T-This isn't right! Why w-wouldn't he let you t-take the scroll, Neji?" Hinata stuttered.

Neji shook his head in bewilderment. "I have no idea, cousin, but you are correct. I'm supposed to be going."

"I don't want father to go!" Hanabi wailed, burying her face into Hinata's kimono as she continued to weep. "I don't him or you to die, Neji!"

Hinata hugged her little sister even tighter. As hard as this all was for her, nothing seemed to compare to Hanabi's pain. Thirteen she might be, but she was still so childlike in so many ways. This was all such a huge shock to her.

"You all need to convince him to send you instead, Neji," said Tenten suddenly.

The other three turned to her with unmistakable surprise on their faces.

"You actually want me to go to war?" said Neji in disbelief.

"Of course not! But I know you're fit and strong! Your uncle is not! You stand a better chance at returning home than he does!"

Neji nodded in appreciation for Tenten's understanding of the situation, and squeezed her hand tightly to express his feelings. Tenten's eyes were watering at the sacrifice she knew her new husband would have to make to protect his uncle, but there was no other choice. Neji was capable of surviving the war whereas Hiashi was not. They had to convince the head of the clan to reconsider his mysterious decision.

"Tenten, you go and keep Aunt Hitomi preoccupied. Lady Hinata, Lady Hanabi? You both follow me. I think I know where your father is going."

"W-Where, Neji?"

"The armory."

The girls all nodded, and Tenten hurried in the direction her aunt-in-law had gone off in as Hinata and Hanabi followed Neji in the direction of the clan armory.

Sure enough, the door was open to the weaponry vault, and Hinata, Hanabi, and Neji all quietly crept in, being careful not to alert whoever was inside that they were there. Not many Hyuuga's chose to use weapons, as the taijutsu style of the Gentle Fist made it fine for them to fight by using that and that alone, but there was still a wide assortment of weapons available for those in the clan who chose to diversify their ninja-skills, and of course there was the standard equipment available for all ninjas, such as kunai knives, shuriken stars, senbon needles, explosive tags, food pills, an assortment of poisons and antidotes, and healing ointments all available for clan members to use on a series of shelves and in a number of storage cupboards and drawers up against one of the walls.

Every ninja in the clan had their own particular set of armor to use while on missions or when going to battle, and Hiashi was walking carefully, but still determinedly toward the large wardrobe that held his personal armor, the armor he had not used in almost a full decade. Not since he damaged his leg in the Third Great War and had lost his twin brother.

Hanabi moved forward to try and speak with him, but Hinata and Neji both grabbed her and pulled her back, making sure to stay in the shadows beyond the doorway. They motioned for her to be quiet before peering back out around the archway.

Hiashi set his drafting notice away into the inner pockets of his haori before opening the doors to the cupboard. His customary green flak jacket was inside along with his chainmail armor and a set of ninja sandals. Tucked inside one of the pockets of the jacket was his old Konoha forehead protector, tied off with black cloth. He had always been a traditional fighter in the clan, so there was no sword or other weapons inside. He was an exclusive Gentle Fist fighter. Time may have passed for him, but his old equipment was still in excellent condition. It would serve him well during this second war.

His two daughters and only nephew watched as he took his old Leaf headband out from the pocket of the flak jacket, and tied it securely in place around his forehead, pausing only momentarily as he absorbed the importance of this moment.

Hanabi clung to the fabric of Hinata's kimono, and Hinata patted her head comfortingly as she gazed at Neji. Neji looked nervous for once as he squeezed his cousin's hand.

After a few moments, Hiashi seemed to nod to himself, and then moved to the exact center of the room before falling into the traditional stance of the Gentle Fist. Hinata, Hanabi, and Neji watched as the head of the clan performed a few basic, but still very impressive sparring techniques of their clan's traditional fighting style even without activating his Byakugan. For a moment, it was easy for them to forget that they were supposed to be trying to convince Hiashi not to go to war, because he looked so skilled as he performed the various taijutsu exercises. Back before he was injured, he had been considered one of the strongest fighters of the Hyuuga family, and upon watching him practice now, it was easy for the three of them to see why he had been declared as such. Perhaps they were wrong about him. He just might be okay if he left instead of Neji.

No sooner had the two girls and the young man each thought this than Hiashi fully set down his bad leg as he prepared to practice a powerful hand thrust, and then gasped in great pain as he felt the full weight of his body crash down on the crippled knee. He immediately stopped the practice, and moved to lean up against one of the walls as he fought to regain his bearings from the overload of pain rushing through him.

Hanabi quietly gasped and moved forward to help him, but once again, Hinata and Neji both held her back. Hiashi was trying to prove to himself that he was well enough to go, and he had come in here quietly so as to not attract any attention. If she went inside now, she would only make things worse.

Eventually, the pain in his leg seemed to subside, and Hiashi was gradually able to straighten up again. There was a thin trail of sweat running down his temple which he quickly wiped away with the back of his hand, but he was still shaking slightly and a bit out of breath. With one hand still leaning up against the wall for extra support, he pulled the draft notice out from inside his haori and stared at it with a solemn expression.

Without a word, Neji seized the hands of both his female cousins and began dragging them quietly away from the room. If they stayed any longer, Hiashi would for sure catch them spying on his moment of weakness. He waited until they turned a corner in the hallway they were in before speaking.

"That proves it. He is definitely not fit enough."

Hanabi started crying again as she looked up at her elder sister.

"What's father thinking, big sis?!" she cried. "He's going to die if he goes!"

Hinata fought against her usual stutter to try and sound strong for her saddened, scared little sister.

"I don't know, H-Hanabi… but we have to s-stop him somehow!"

Neji nodded in agreement. "I'll plead my case at dinner. I'm not sure what uncle could be thinking, but I'll try and convince him to send me instead. After all, the draft isn't demanding a member of the main family going. Just one man from every family."

Hinata nodded in appreciation for her cousin's sacrifice. "T-Thank you, Neji. You are truly t-too kind."

Neji gave her a small, warm smile in return.

"I just hope we can make your father see reason somehow."

* * *

Dinner that night was a very somber affair. Everyone was kneeling down on their soft cushioned seats in front of the low table as they ate the delicious meal the branch chef had prepared for them tonight, but no one was even focusing on the food, or speaking at all.

Tenten was very rigid as she ate with her chopsticks, mentally cursing herself for wishing earlier that afternoon that someone else in the clan would volunteer to go instead of Neji. Neji was very solemn as he drank his tea, trying to figure out how to best approach his proposition to his uncle. Hanabi was quietly playing with her noodles with her chopsticks, glancing pleadingly up at her mother and father as she tried to muffle her small, barely audible whimpers that everyone at the table was pretending they couldn't hear. Hitomi's eyes were slightly red, indicating that she had cried sometime between the formal war announcement and their current meal, but she was staying as strong as she could and simply ate with her eyes firmly fixed on her plate. Hiashi was quiet and very formal, ignoring the awkwardness in the room from the rest of his family as he accepted the cup of tea that Hinata had been kind enough to pour for him.

Rain was drizzling down against the roof, setting the mood for the tense atmosphere of the quiet meal, and loud rumbles of thunder could be heard clapping off somewhere in the distance. All in all, it was way too peaceful.

Hinata didn't like the silence as she poured herself some tea from the teapot. This was wrong. Her father wasn't supposed to be looking like this, like the idea of his imminent death was no big deal. That him going to war instead of Neji was something he should be proud of. Neji was supposed to be the one right now who should be looking like going off to die for his country was something to be proud of, because even though he was not her father's son, he was still the strongest fighter in the clan. Speaking of which, why wasn't he even saying anything? They had agreed that he would speak with her father about sending him instead! So why wasn't he?! If he wasn't brave enough to bring up the topic, then she was!

She took a quick sip of her tea, and then said, in a surprisingly firm voice that did not stutter, although her hands definitely trembled as she gripped her cup,

"You shouldn't be going, father."

Everyone went very still as Hiashi turned toward his eldest child with a furrowed brow.

"It is my duty, Hinata. I am the head of this family and—"

"I-It is _not_ your duty, though!" she protested, her voice wavering slightly but still very strong. "It's… It's s-supposed to be Neji's!"

Neji, very slowly, nodded in agreement with his cousin's words.

"Uncle, allow me to go in your stead," he said respectfully. "I… I may not be your son, but I promise to fulfill my duty to this clan and bring honor to both our family and you during this war."

Hiashi very solemnly shook his head as he swallowed a small serving of rice.

"No, Neji. You are to stay here."

"But Uncle Hiashi! You've said it yourself that I am one of the strongest ninjas to have come from this clan in generations! Why not let me go?"

Hiashi's face was completely stoic as he answered his nephew.

"You are a married man now, nephew. Your duty is to your wife and your own family first instead of me and the rest of the clan."

Of all the reasons everyone had been considering as to why Hiashi was insisting to go instead of Neji, this was not it, and it took the entire family aback. Tenten herself was shocked at knowing that she was the reason. She hesitantly spoke up.

"Lord Hiashi, I… I am flattered that you are worried, but… but I understand that this is part of Neji's duty! You can send him instead! I am fine with that!"

Once again, Hiashi shook his head.

"I am glad you have faith in my nephew, Tenten, but this decision is final. I have already buried my brother. I will not bury my brother's son."

Neji's gripped his chopsticks tightly, wanting to speak up and continue to plead his case, but he did not wish to disrespect his uncle by continuing to protest against him. Tenten just mutely nodded at her patriarchal relative, unwilling to press the subject.

Hinata was furious. Did her father's life have such little value to Neji and Tenten? He was their uncle! They were supposed to be convincing him not to go, not allow themselves to be talked into the idea! He was going to die if he left for the training camps tomorrow, did they both forget that?! They might not care, but she certainly did!

"It s-still shouldn't be y-you, though!" she exclaimed.

Hiashi's eyes turned cold at her continuous objections. Hitomi recognized the fire in her husband's eyes, and quickly spoke up before he could say something she knew he would regret.

"Hinata, this is your father's decision and we must respect it. He wishes to bring honor to our family and clan. You should be proud of him."

Hinata, to the surprise of everyone, actually glared at her mother, and once again managed to speak without stuttering.

"Do you not care about father, mother?! He can't even walk well without his crutch! He is in no condition to fight in a war!"

Hitomi's breath caught at the honest truth in Hinata's words, and her hands shook as she held her cup of tea.

"Of course I care, and I wish that he did not have to go, but he has no other choice."

This was all too much for Hanabi, and she was no longer able to hold back her sobs as her tears flowed down her face and dripped down into her plate of noodles.

"C-Can't you do something else there if y-you have to go…?" she sniffled, sounding much more like her elder sister at the moment than her usual peppy self. "Instead of f-fighting, could you… tend the h-horses or just d-do strategy?" she offered, not really knowing how wars worked exactly so she could only guess.

Hiashi's scowl diminished slightly upon seeing the distress on the face of his youngest child, but he still kept his expression completely solemn as he shook his head.

"It does not work that way, Hanabi. Every man will be needed in battle."

"Well, then why n-not send someone else then, f-father?!" Hinata demanded, and all heads at the table turned back toward her. "There are m-many ninjas in this clan! S-Someone else can go instead of y-you!"

Hiashi's face hardened once again, and he turned away from Hinata so as to continue eating. "Hinata, we are through with this discussion. I have made my decision and I will stand by it. I will bring honor to this clan by protecting my country and my family."

Hinata slammed her teacup down on the table so hard, her tea spilled everywhere. Everyone, even the servant branch members who had been standing quietly off to the side to clear the table once the family was done eating, was taken aback as the usually quiet girl leapt to her feet.

"You will die for honor, father! Your death is not worth something so meaningless and trivial!" she all but screamed.

But Hiashi had finally had enough. With a frustrated slap on the wood of the table, he too stood up and towered over her smaller form. "If I die, I shall die doing what is right and asked of this clan!" he thundered. "Someone here has to make up for the shame you have dishonored us all with!"

The room fell deathly silent.

The branch member servants stared, not believing their own ears.

Hanabi dropped her chopsticks.

Tenten's hand flew up over mouth.

Neji went rigid.

Hitomi's breath stilled.

Hinata's anger all but disappeared as her eyes went wide, hurt quickly spreading across her features from her father words. He had all but confirmed what she already believed about herself to be true.

 _Disgraceful._

 _Embarrassment._

 _Disappointment._

 _Failure._

 _Dishonorable._

The list went on and on.

Hiashi seemed to have only just realized what he said, and just how much he must have hurt his eldest daughter. A rare look of remorse filled his eyes. "Hinata, I—"

But Hinata did not wait to hear her father say anything else. His words and the words of every other person who had ever criticized her for her faults as the clan heiress were ringing loudly in her head. Tears flooded her eyes as she ran from the room, and straight out the back door leading out into the rainy gardens.

"Hinata!" shouted all of the family members, each of them quickly standing so as to run after her. Even the branch members moved forward to try and stop her. But she was already gone, the door leading outside was flapping open due to the wind, and they could just barely make out the blue-haired girl's slim form as she disappeared into the blackness of the stormy night. No one knew the clan gardens better than the clan heiress. If Hinata wanted to hide away from everyone for awhile, they would never find her.

Hanabi wailed harder than ever after her runaway sister. "Big Sis! Come back! Please! _Hinata!"_

Neji and Tenten quickly moved to try and run after her, but what happened next was so sudden and so unexpected, it knocked everyone for a loop.

For the first time in her many years of marriage, Hitomi Hyuuga slapped her husband.

Everyone stared in complete shock at the Hyuuga matriarch, who was glaring coldly and shaking her head in pure disgust at her stoic-faced husband.

"I have been your wife for nearly twenty years now, Hiashi Hyuuga! _Twenty!"_ she hissed. "But never in all that time have I been more ashamed to call myself your wife! She is your flesh and blood, and blood is thicker than water!"

She swept out of the dining hall without another word, leaving behind Hiashi feeling extremely guilty for his actions, Hanabi sobbing for her sister to come back, Tenten burying her face into Neji's chest as he soothingly stroked her hair, and the unusually silent branch members as they hesitantly cleared away the dishes on the table.

* * *

The heavy rainwater was for sure ruining the beautiful silk fabric of her kimono, but Hinata could not bring herself to care. She openly wept as she curled herself into a tight ball underneath the cover of the stone statue of the tree with ten branches she had passed by earlier during her depression over her failure with the matchmaker.

Everything was so wrong for the young princess. She had dishonored her family and clan three times today. She had failed with Lady Anko, embarrassed her father in front of the entire village, and now had once again disrespected him, even though she was simply worried about his health and safety. Her father would leave tomorrow for the training camps and would be killed the day he first set foot on the battlefield, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She had failed in her plea to make him stay.

She sobbed harder than ever as she thought about the idea of her father dying. Her father was a stern man that honored tradition above everything else, but he was still her father. She remembered the days when she was a little girl and would go to visit him in his office with flowers she had picked for him from the clan gardens. Around others, he could come across as cold and heartless, but for her he would softly smile. He would often take the flowers she would present him with and put them in an empty vase he always kept at hand in his private quarters for when she visited, and then softly pat her head before continuing his work, allowing her to stay and play with her dolls on the floor so long as she remembered to play quietly.

Her father was a good man. He should have been blessed with a better heir than her.

Deep down, Hinata knew that every criticism the clan elders scorned her for were really what her father secretly thought of her even if he pretended not to. Because in a way, they were all correct. She was a failure and a disappointment to the clan. She just wasn't quality Hyuuga material. No matter how hard she strived to be a good heiress for the family, she could never do her duties correctly. She was truly dishonorable.

With a small sniffle, Hinata wiped her face dry with her sleeve before glancing down at a puddle near her feet. Her teary reflection gazed back at her. Just like when she saw her reflection in the pond earlier after her failed matchmaking session, the sight of her in such a lavish and beautiful kimono looked so wrong to her eyes. This truly wasn't who she was, and part of her had to wonder if it ever would be.

She looked away from the image of herself in the puddle and back in the direction of the main house. From a lighted window, she could see the silhouette of her father hugging her sister, and Neji and Tenten's forms were right behind her. Hanabi seemed to be crying as she buried her face into Hiashi's chest, and Hiashi was gently stroking her hair as he spoke directly to Neji, not that she could hear what they were saying from how far away she was and the loudness of the rain. Tenten eventually took Hanabi's hand, and steered her away somewhere as Neji and Hiashi continued speaking. After a few moments, Hiashi tried to clap his hand on his nephew's shoulder, but Neji just turned and walked away as he hung his head sadly. That's when Hitomi's shadowy form appeared, slightly hunched a bit due to how upset she was. Hinata watched as her father gently tilted her mother's chin upwards and tried to whisper something to her, but her mother, just like Neji, just wandered away out of sight. Hiashi held up a hand as though to stop her, but seemed to think better of it at the last moment. Instead, he reached over for the only lit candle in the window and gently blew it out. The light that formed his darkened silhouette instantly disappeared, swallowing him up into the darkness.

More tears came to Hinata's eyes after witnessing this. Her entire family was suffering because of this. They were hurting, and all because her father was too stubborn to let someone else in the clan take his place in this stupid war. She was tempted to go run to the branch family quarters and beg someone else to go in her father's stead, but she knew that would only disgrace her further and be a complete waste of effort and breath. If Hiashi would not allow his only nephew to go in his stead, there was no way he'd allow another man from the clan to go either. It would be disrespectful of a branch member to ever consider doing such a thing, not to mention dishonorable! The only other person Hiashi would trust to give up his position to other than Neji would be his first-born son, and she and Hanabi were his daughters, not his sons.

She sighed as her tears streamed down her cheeks. Why couldn't she have been born a boy? Life would have been so much easier if she had. If she were a boy, she wouldn't be scrutinized so carefully by the clan elders, and she wouldn't have had to go through that humiliating incident at Lady Anko's. She wouldn't have to wear such elegant kimonos all the time and could instead train like Neji in their clan's ancient ninja traditions and actually use her bloodline trait with her Byakugan. She could take her father's place in the war and actually make him proud of her for once rather than humiliated and embarrassed. She wouldn't have to worry about getting married for a long time.

 _Everything would be better if only I was a boy. I could take father's place in the army…_ she thought to herself rather hopelessly.

She sighed, but then what she thought actually hit her.

 _If only I was a boy._

 _If only… I was… a boy!_

Hinata's eyes went wide as a wild idea came to her mind. What if she were to actually become a boy? Not literally, of course, but why couldn't she disguise herself as the son her father had always wanted and take his place in this idiotic war? It was a completely crazy idea, but what if it was possible? Could she actually pull something like that off? It would be very dangerous and even punishable by death if she were caught disguised as a male ninja in the Allied Shinobi Forces.

But who would ever suspect her anyway? Nobody had ever done something like that before because it was completely absurd to even cross anyone's mind! No one would suspect her, the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, to impersonate a Hyuuga ninja. So long as she was really careful to not get caught, it could actually work!

A newfound resolve swept through Hinata's entire being. She could do this. She was a strong woman. She might not have been able to convince her father to not go to war, but she could take his place! She loved him and was crazy and desperate enough to do it! She would protect him, the rest of her family, and all of the people in the new Japan. She would uphold the honor of all the Hyuuga clan and do something right for a change!

But if she were to actually do this, she would have to leave now. Tonight. Her father would leave for the training camps first thing in the morning. She had to leave immediately.

With a surge of newly discovered strength and determination, the young heiress crawled out from her perch underneath the stone tree and dashed toward the family shrine. Her first stop would be begging her ancestors to protect her in her dangerous task.

As she entered the holy structure, the water clinging to her body dripped down onto the stone floor, but Hinata paid the damp setting no mind as she quickly lit a candle and began busily searching for a stick of incense. Unbeknownst to her, there was a spirit already aware of what she was doing. A rabbit spirit, to be precise. Tiny little Usagi watched from where she was sitting in the shadows of several other ancestral plaques as Hinata weaved a thin trail of smoke through the air with her lit up stick. She gently set the incense stick inside the incense holder of the golden nine-tailed fox, and then clapped her hands together as she respectfully bowed.

"G-Good and wise ancestors," she whispered. "I b-beg you now to h-hear my prayer… I am about t-to embark on a dangerous j-journey. Not f-for myself, b-but for my father… I ask you to w-watch over him and m-my family while I am away, and to g-guide me during my mission."

The wind lightly blew throughout the shrine, but the incense and candle both remained burning. That was surely a sign that they heard her humble request.

Hinata smiled. "I promise t-to uphold the honor of our c-clan, noble ancestors…"

And with that, she spun around on her heels, and hurried back toward the main house. The little rabbit spirit hopped along after her as quickly as she could.

She very carefully opened the doors and tiptoed back inside, being very careful to not make any noise. She had to be careful in case her fellow clansmen were still awake. The compound was completely devoid of sound, and all the lights had been turned off so it was as black as the night outside. The only lights to be seen were the very few candles that had been lit in various corners here and there so people could see in case they needed to get up for any reason.

She smiled. It appeared everyone in the clan was asleep. That would make things easier for her.

Her first stop before preparing for her journey was Neji and Tenten's quarters. They would be the easiest for her to say her silent goodbye to first. Plus, she would need to steal a few sets of Neji's clothes. She couldn't very well go to the war camps dressed in her kimono or her father's flak jacket alone! Her male cousin was the only person in the clan she could think of in her haste that was approximately around the same size as her. She hurried down the hall, quietly opened the door to their shared bedroom, and slipped silently inside.

As she guessed, her cousin and cousin-in-law were fast asleep in their bed. Neji was hugging Tenten close to his body as he slept, and Tenten's head was resting on his chest. She smiled upon seeing them. She was happy Neji had found someone as kind as Tenten. She might not agree with her father's decision to go to war, but she did agree to some extent that Neji's duties were now first to his new wife and any future children he and Tenten might one day have before Hiashi and the rest of the clan. She had every intention of returning from this war alive, but if she didn't, she was glad that she was at least able to meet Tenten and attend their wedding.

With that thought in mind, she hurried toward the armoire where she knew Neji kept his special ninja-wear, and took out three separate white shirts and three sets of pants before moving quietly forward toward their bedside table. With one last loving look at her two cousins, she took the pearl necklace Tenten had given her this morning out from the inner pockets of her kimono, and gently set it down on the table's surface where they would find it when they awoke.

"N-Neji, thank you f-for everything… Be a g-good wife to him, T-Tenten…" she whispered.

She dared not stay any longer than that. She gathered the stolen clothes securely under one arm, and then tiptoed out of the bedroom.

After safely leaving their room, she deposited the clothes near the entrance to the clan armory to pack later before heading immediately toward the room of her sweet little sister, only to discover that her bed was completely empty.

For a long moment, Hinata panicked. Was her sister awake? Had she gotten up to use the restroom? Was she about to get caught?

She made a beeline toward the nearest restroom, only to discover that it was empty. She even checked the kitchens to see if maybe Hanabi was getting a midnight snack, but they were devoid of life as well.

Hinata was confused. Where was Hanabi? Her parents had a rule that they were not allowed to sleep in their bed after they turned eleven, and she knew Hanabi wasn't sleeping with Neji and Tenten. She would have seen her in bed with them if she had!

Then it hit her. How could she be so stupid?! It was all but obvious where her sister chose to spend the night.

She set off for her own bedroom at once.

Sure enough, her sister's small form was fast asleep in her bed, her eyes wet and red from having waited for her sister to come back inside from the rain as she cried herself to sleep.

Upon seeing Hanabi in such distress even while asleep, Hinata felt her sisterly instincts tugging hard at her heartstrings. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to gather her precious little sister up in her arms and hug her until she smiled, but she dared not do such a thing. Doing so might make her wake up, and she was soaking wet in her kimono. She couldn't risk it. And besides, there were still a few things she needed to gather from her room anyway. She had to stay quiet.

She bit her lip to ignore the pain in her heart as she moved toward her dresser. She pulled out a large knapsack she could use to pack her things in, and also gathered up a simple hairbrush and an assortment of toiletries. Heaven knows she still needed to take care of her feminine hygiene while pulling off this masquerade!

She was about ready to shut the drawer when her eyes fell upon the red scarf she'd kept for years in memory of her first love. She bit her lip as she contemplated taking it. There could be no room in her heart for selfish desires from now on as she did what she had to in order to keep her family safe, but what was really the harm in taking such a simple item? It was only a scarf, and in the offshoot chance that after training, her platoon was stationed in one of the snowier regions of the country, it could very well keep her warm. What was the likelihood anyway that the blonde-haired boy she met as a child would actually be at the training camp and recognize it? Almost zero percent really! She smiled at the thought, and then gathered it up with the rest of her supplies and things to bring with her.

She dumped the scarf and the rest of the supplies into the knapsack before focusing her attention back on Hanabi. Her sister was still enveloped in the world of her dreams, blissfully ignorant of the fact that her wonderful big sister was standing only a few feet away and preparing to leave her.

Tears came to Hinata's eyes as she moved closer to her. What she wouldn't give for one more day with her little sister. To watch her grow up into a young woman and see her marry a kind young man. To simply hug her one last time. She knew now that dying would not be an option for her during this war. She might be leaving tonight, but she would return again, if only to one day be able to witness these events with her sister.

She dried her tears with the back of her hand, and then reached back inside the inner pockets of her robe for the pearl bracelet her sister had been kind enough to give her. She gently set it down on the pillow beside Hanabi's head, and then leaned down to softly kiss her forehead goodbye.

"I l-love you, Hanabi," she tearfully whispered.

She forced herself to look away from her sister's small form on her bed as she drew back. She had to get out of here now. If she stayed any longer, her resolve might waver, and she couldn't afford to start second-guessing herself. She spared her wonderful sister one last sad smile, and then departed without looking back.

She still had one last stop to make before fully preparing in the armory. She had to say goodbye to her parents.

She silently scurried down the hall toward her parent's door, paused for only half-a-second as her nerves set back in, but then regained her courage as she turned the doorknob and quietly entered.

Her parents were fast asleep in their bed. Just like Neji was doing with Tenten, her father was holding her mother close to his chest as he slept, and her mother was fully accepting of his embrace and took comfort in the security of her husband's arms as she dreamed on. Hinata smiled when she saw them. Love was truly a beautiful thing. It was unlikely she would find love anytime in the near future as she disguised herself as a man, but perhaps one day she would find someone she loved the way her mother loved her father or Tenten loved Neji. Yes, maybe someday…

She looked away from their sleeping figures, and moved toward their nightstand where her father had set aside his draft notice and his pendant with the Hyuuga clan crest. It was only supposed to be worn by males heads of the family and their first-born sons. She'd have to take it with her to successfully pull off this charade. She took them both in hand, pausing only for a second to throw the pendant on over her neck. With gentle fingers, she took the silver kanzashi hairpiece with purple lotus blossoms her mother had given her out of her hair, and set it down gently in place of where the draft notice had been.

She sent her parents a small, sad smile.

"I'm s-sorry, mother, but I h-have to do this… I p-promise to make y-you proud, father…" she whispered sadly, but determinedly.

She slipped out from their master bedroom and quietly shut the door behind her as she wiped a few more tears from her eyes. This would not be the last time she would see her family, telling them goodbye while they were all fast asleep and then rushing out into the night. She would for sure return home. She would make sure she saw them again.

With that thought in mind, she gathered her knapsack and hurried toward the kitchens to gather a small portion of food for her journey, and then made her way back to the armory, pausing only momentarily to collect Neji's clothes that she had left beside the entrance before.

She stuffed two of the shirts and two of the pants inside the bag, leaving the last pair out to change into. As she shimmied her way out of her wet kimono, she suddenly realized the problem her oversized chest imposed. There was no way she could show up at the training camp with a set of breasts! People would know immediately that she was a girl! This was very problematic. She knew there were jutsus out there where people could disguise themselves to look like someone else for long periods of time, but they were only taught to men and she was a woman. She didn't know what they were exactly or how to even do them. She had no other choice but to bind them. She immediately began searching the shelves and drawers in the room for a roll of bandages. She easily found a few rolls tucked away in a small drawer. She threw a couple extra rolls into her knapsack for additional use before unrolling a separate bandage and pressing the edge of the wrapping against her bare chest. She carefully rolled the fabric round and round her body as tightly as possibly. She gasped for breath several times as she got used to the feeling of her breasts being squeezed tightly together in this painful way, but still managed to flatten her chest down to a decent size. With her cousin's loose ninja shirts and her father's flak jacket and chainmail armor, no one would be able to notice her less-noticeable breasts. This could actually work for her!

She threw on her cousin's clothes in a rush, but as she moved to collect her father's things from his private cupboard, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in a window. Her chest was definitely downsized, but her long, waist-length hair was still the clue that she was female rather than male. There were men out there with long hair she knew, her father and Neji being two of them, but she highly doubted any of them would grow their hair all the way down to their waist!

Hinata stared at herself for a few moments before nodding with determination. She would have to cut it. Not completely short, but up to her mid-back to be around the same length as Neji's. It was a sacrifice, but it was only hair. It would grow back in time.

She spied a lone kunai lying on a side table, and she snatched it up before moving to sit down on the floor beside her wet kimono that she left piled up in a ball. She felt her hand shake as she gripped the small knife, and she breathed deeply for a few moments to calm herself down before raising the sharp blade up toward her hair. With her free hand, she gathered all of her hair together in her fist so as to only have to worry about cutting once rather than several times at approximately the same length.

She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and then sliced.

At least six inches worth of silky indigo-colored hair fell freely from her head and onto the floor. Her hair now reached her mid-back. Over half of her beautiful, long blue hair was now gone. But she had no regrets. It was only a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things. She grabbed some black hair bands from another drawer and tied her hair back into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck. She was just grateful that there were men out there that had bangs, so she didn't have to worry about chopping them off, too. She rather liked her bangs, and would have been very sad to lose them.

She spent the next few minutes packing a few last minute provisions into her bag: a tent for sleeping, some kunai knives, a set of shuriken, some food pills, a large jar of healing ointment, some poisons and antidotes, and a few explosive tags. When she was finally all packed, she at last turned toward her father's old jacket, chainmail, ninja sandals, and Konoha forehead protector in the wardrobe.

She quickly threw the chainmail on over her baggy white shirt, and then slipped the jacket on over it for extra protection. She pulled on the ninja footwear, and attempted to tie her father's old headband in place on her forehead, but frowned when she felt how it rested so awkwardly on her brow. Putting the headband on over the forehead was the traditional way to wear a ninja headband, but there were plenty of ninjas out there who wore it on other regions of their body because they didn't like the way it felt on their brow. She would have to do the same. There was no way she would be able to fight while focusing on the metal of the plate pressing so hard against her head. She adjusted the headband so that it was instead hanging loosely around her neck. There! That felt much better!

At last, she was finally ready. She took a quick look at her reflection in the window. She really did look like a man. A man ready to become a ninja, fight for his country, and bring honor to his noble house.

With a small smile, she swung the knapsack on over her shoulders, and quietly left the clan armory. She walked silently down the hallways until she reached the double doors leading outside. Her hand hovered over the doorknob for a moment, and she looked over her shoulder to spare one last glance at the inside of the manor that she'd grown up in, but then pushed the doors open and walked right out into the still pouring rain.

She hurried into the stables and approached Rin's stall. Rin looked up at the unknown man in the doorway, and instinctively reared up in panic, trying to keep the stranger far away from himself as possible. Hinata rushed forward before he could hurt either himself or her.

"R-Rin! Shh! Shh! I-It's just me! It's H-Hinata!" she softly crooned, allowing the white stallion to take in her scent before attempting to stroke his long nose.

Rin inhaled the scent of his girl emanating from the strange man and whinnied in surprise. He gently butted his head against her face in a kind gesture. Hinata giggled as she lovingly stroked his neck.

"H-Hey boy, good to s-see you, too… Listen R-Rin, I have to do s-something important for my f-family, but I have t-to go away for awhile… p-possibly for a long t-time… Will you c-come with me?"

Rin neighed and nodded, his head bopping up and down as though he understood what his mistress was saying. Hinata smiled, and patted his neck again. She hurried to saddle him up and get a set of reins on over his head before gently leading him outside into the rain.

On the floor of the barn right near the entrance, tiny Usagi watched with big, worried eyes as her mistress led the horse outside… The only thing was, her mistress now looked more like she was her master now. If the kindly little bunny couldn't feel the aura emanating from Hinata, it would have been easy for her to mistake the fact that the person running out into the night was actually a man rather than a woman. But then again, that was the whole point of the disguise in the first place.

As Hinata prepared to mount her horse, she paused, and looked back out at her childhood home one final time. It was too late to change her mind, but she was still sad that it had to be this way. She wished she didn't have to leave, but she had to. It was the only way to protect her father.

"I _will_ come back," she whispered to the night. "I… I p-promise…"

With a final resolute nod to herself, she turned away from the estate and swung her body up into Rin's saddle, only this time, she swung both her legs around the horses body rather than ride in the dainty sidesaddle position she had been so carefully instructed in all her life.

Rin whinnied loudly and reared up on his mistress's command to bust the clan gates wide open. With a loud "Kyah!" of the woman-disguised-as-a-man rider and a sharp snap of the reins, the two shot off into the darkness of the storm as they followed the directions to the war camp that had been provided with the drafting notice. Within moments, they were nothing more than simple dots in the far-off rainy distance.

* * *

Not long after the young heiress and her trusty horse had left the Hyuuga compound, something mysterious happened in the family shrine. The candle Hinata had lit before burned brighter than ever, and the name of the eldest, first known member of the Hyuuga clan glowed with red chakra on the ancient tablet beside it. It was almost like the ancestor knew what had just happened…

* * *

Lightning flashed brightly against the stormy night sky, followed swiftly by a clap of ominous thunder when Hanabi screamed as she woke up and sat upright in her sister's bed. She hadn't had a nightmare, but a gut-wrenching, horrible feeling was sweeping over her entire body, as though she knew that something was not right. With a sigh, the second-born daughter of the head of the clan tugged her sister's blanket tightly around her small form as she shivered, although she wasn't entirely sure if her shivering had to do with how she was feeling rather than the cold.

After a few moments, Hanabi managed to calm down slightly and took a look around. Her big sister wasn't in the room, so she still had to be crying outside somewhere. She couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. She had wanted to spend the night with Hinata tonight. Hanabi had wanted her big sister's comfort for when their father left tomorrow. Oh well, she supposed she'd come back inside soon enough. They'd talk in the morning.

She was about to lay back down, but then she spied the pearl bracelet on the pillow next to her. The same one she gave to Hinata as a present this morning. Hanabi's eyes lit up. Hinata had come back inside! She probably just went to dry off in the bathroom before coming to bed!

With an excited smile, the young girl climbed out of bed, and hurried out of the room to find her. She wanted to talk with her big sister right now!

But much to her disappointment, Hinata was not in the bathroom. She was confused. Where could her big sister be?

She started to wander up and down the hallways of the compound.

"Hinata? Hinata?" she called out in a low voice, being mindful of the others in the clan who were still fast asleep. "Big sister, where are you?"

She wasn't quiet enough, though. A door soon opened at the end of the hall, revealing the half-awake and sleepy faces of Neji and Tenten. They immediately spied their small cousin sneaking around.

"Hanabi?" Tenten yawned. "What're you doing?"

"What's the matter, Lady Hanabi?" Neji asked, blinking away his own tiredness.

Hanabi gasped lightly and whirled around. "Neji! Tenten! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you!"

Neji smiled slightly at her more cheerful disposition. She had been a crying mess when the family had retired for bed. "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

Hanabi smiled as she shook her head. "Hinata's come back in! Have you guys seen her?"

Neji blinked at her words. "No, we haven't. Are you quite sure, Lady Hanabi?"

"I've got her bracelet! See?" she said, holding up the said object.

Tenten suddenly gasped as she moved back inside their bedroom. Neji and Hanabi both looked at her, puzzled, but she returned a moment later, holding the pearl necklace she'd also given to Hinata as a gift.

"Hanabi's right, Neji. I gave this to Hinata this morning. It was left on the nightstand. It wasn't there when we went to bed."

"Are you certain?"

"Positive."

"There! You see, Neji? I told you! Now, do either of you have any idea where Big Sis might be?"

"She's probably talking to your father, Hanabi. We'll help you find her, right Neji?"

"Yes. This way, Lady Hanabi."

The three set off together in the direction of the master bedroom in the compound. Neji knocked politely on the door when they reached it.

"Aunt Hitomi? Uncle Hiashi?" he called out.

There were some sleepy grumbles from within, and the trio took that as their cue to enter.

The Lord and Lady Hyuuga were groggily sitting up in bed from the rude awakening as Hanabi all but ran into the room, hoping to find her big sister, only to visibly deflate when she saw that the only people inside were her sleepy parents.

Hitomi noticed the frown on her youngest child's face, and forced herself to brush aside her drowsiness so as to focus on her. "Hanabi? Darling? What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Hanabi crossed the room so as to help her father sit up. "Mother! Father! Hinata came back in, but we can't find her!" she explained.

Hiashi was instantly awake. "She's back?"

Hanabi bit her lip. "I have her bracelet, and Tenten has her necklace. But we can't find her! We looked everywhere!"

Hitomi sighed, and was about to order her nephew and niece to kindly put Hanabi back to bed when Hiashi suddenly gasped. Anything anyone would have said right then was instantly cut off as they watched the generally stoic leader of the clan reach out toward his bedside table in unmistakable confusion. His recruitment scroll for the ninja forces was gone, as was his pendant of the Hyuuga clan crest as proof that he was the head of the clan. All that was left behind was the ornamental purple hairpiece Hitomi had given Hinata only that morning before her session with Lady Anko.

With wide eyes and a dry mouth, Hiashi picked it up and stared at it. "It can't be…" he whispered warily. "She wouldn't have…"

Hitomi's eyes filled with horror.

Tenten went wide eyed.

Neji became very white.

Hanabi simply looked confused.

"Father? What's going—"

But Hiashi did not wait for his daughter to finish speaking. Within seconds he was up, grabbing hold of his crutch with the hand not clutching onto the kanzashi hairpiece with all his might, and was shoving his way past his family.

"Hinata! Hinata!" he shouted in uncharacteristic terror as he hurried as fast as he could on his bad leg to the clan armory, leaving his youngest daughter, wife, nephew, and new niece no choice but to run after him.

As he continued to hobble and shout as he made his way down the many long corridors of the compound, doors opened up all over the manor, and sleepy members of both the branch family and main family poked their heads out to see what all the commotion was about. Upon seeing the distress on the head of the family's face and hearing him shout out desperately for his eldest daughter, people immediately snapped wide awake, and joined his family in running after him. Something was wrong with their heiress! They had to know exactly what.

Hiashi finally rounded the last corner and burst into the armory, only to go rigid at what he found inside. The doors of the cupboard where he kept his personal ninja flak jacket had been left open and had been stripped completely bare, and on the floor nearby was his daughter's beautiful, wet lilac kimono, discarded away into a crumpled ball beside a pile of her long, lovely indigo hair. He felt like he was going to be sick as the rest of his immediate family as well as the rest of the clan ran inside behind him, only to gasp in horror at what they saw.

Hanabi felt tears come to her eyes as the realization of where her sister had gone began to occur to her. But she didn't want to believe it. She whirled around, and began dashing out of the room and toward the main entrance to the compound.

"Big sister!" she screamed.

Hiashi and Neji were right behind her. They had to stop the small girl before she did anything rash.

Hanabi threw open the front doors and sprinted outside, ignoring the pelting drops of rain hitting her small body. She wouldn't let her big sister do this! She'd stop her herself before she left!

But as she ran out into the front courtyard, the young pre-teen discovered, much to her horror, that the main gates to the compound were open and banging in the wind. She was too late.

"Hinata!" she screamed, starting to run toward the gates. It didn't matter that she'd already left! She'd run after her big sister on foot if she had to!

That's when Hiashi and Neji managed to catch up with her.

"Lady Hanabi!" Neji shouted.

But Hanabi ignored her elder cousin. She didn't care what they had to say. Her wonderful big sister was going to get herself killed! She had to stop her!

"Hanabi—oof!" shouted Hiashi, slipping on some mud and tumbling down onto the ground. The lotus blossom hairpiece fell from his hand, and landed a few feet in front of him in a wet patch of mud.

"Uncle!"

"Father!"

Immediately, Hanabi snapped out of her panicked distress for her big sister and spun around to assist Neji in helping to sit her father upright once again.

Hitomi, Tenten, and the rest of the clan ran outside themselves just then, and witnessed the distress of the three as they cried for the brave, runaway heiress.

Hanabi was full out bawling as she buried her head in her father's chest while the rain beat down hard upon their bodies. For once, Hiashi's face was not completely stoic and stern. Tears of his own were filling his eyes as he gently stroked her hair.

"S-She's gone!" Hanabi sobbed, hugging her father tightly. "S-She's gone, father!"

"I'll rally a horse, uncle! I'll stop her and bring her back!" Neji said at once.

He started to run off in the direction of the stables, but Hiashi caught hold of his hand before he had taken more than three steps.

"You will do no such thing, nephew."

"Uncle! How can you say such a thing?! Have you no heart at all?! We must go after her! Lady Hinata could be killed!"

At that moment, it didn't matter to Neji that he had spoken so disrespectfully to Hiashi, the head of the clan. At that moment, he was not speaking to Hiashi as simply a member of the Hyuuga branch family. He was speaking to his uncle as his concerned nephew who loved his cousin dearly. He tried to shake his hand out from Hiashi's grasp and continue running toward the stables, but Hiashi's grip on his hand only tightened.

"Neji, she is already long gone. And if we reveal her… she certainly will be."

Hanabi's cries only increased in volume, and she hugged her father even tighter as she wailed. Neji had tears of his own running down his face as he hung his head, knowing full well that his uncle was correct. For Hinata's own safety, they couldn't reveal what she had done to the officials in the Allied Shinobi Forces. She would be executed at once, and the entire clan would be shamed. There was nothing they could do.

Back on the porch, everyone in the clan was whispering amongst themselves in horror for what their heiress had done to keep Hiashi out of the war, but the two that were the most distressed were Hitomi and Tenten.

Tenten fell to her knees as she absorbed everything that had just been discovered, and tears began flowing down her face.

"This is my fault…" she whispered, staring blankly ahead at where her husband, sweet little cousin, and uncle were crying amongst themselves over Lady Hinata's departure. "This is all my fault… If… If I had never married into the clan, none of this would have—"

Within seconds, Hitomi was kneeling down on the ground beside her niece-in-law and gently shook her shoulders to snap her out of her shock.

"Do not say that, Tenten! No one here blames you!" she said with a thick voice. "This… This is _not_ your fault!"

Tenten sobbed loudly as she buried her face into her new aunt's shoulder. Regardless of what Hitomi had told her, Tenten still blamed herself. Because in a way, she was technically correct. If she had never married Neji, Neji would have been the one going off to war right now. Hinata would never have had to put herself in such a dangerous position just to keep her father out of the war.

Hitomi bowed her head sadly as she held her niece, her own sorrow consuming her as she bitterly cried. Her eldest daughter, her first-born child, was going into danger that she was powerless to protect her against. She looked up at the stormy sky and began to pray.

"Hyuuga ancestors, guardian spirits, and any other gods that are listening, please hear our prayer… Watch over Hinata…"


	3. The War Camp

**I'm honestly astounded by how fast I managed to get this chapter out considering what a rough week I've had. But then again, I've always turned to writing whenever I get upset, so I guess it's really not all that surprising.**

 **You see, my dog Cupid, my best friend since I was ten years old, died last Thursday from kidney disease. As you all can imagine, it was a rough weekend for me. I'm still not completely over it. I'd like to take a moment to give a special shout out to all my FanFiction friends who supported me through this difficult time:**

 **\- Silken Danser**

 **\- ZabuzasGirl**

 **\- starfireten**

 **\- WickedgreenPhantom**

 **\- AshleyH30**

 **Thank you all for your comforting words! You're all the best online friends a writer could ask for! :)**

 **That being said, this is the chapter so many of you have been waiting for! Not only is this chapter the longest one so far, it's also the chapter where Hinata meets Naruto for the first time! I hope I did justice to both their characters! I'd also like to say that this chapter is also unbetaed, as I couldn't get a hold of Silken Danser. Once she reads it and gives it her critique, it will be uploaded again. I also have her permission to do this.**

 **I'm also astounded by how many reviews I received for Chapter Two! 18! That's a record number of reviews I've received for posting a chapter! As I did before, let me stop and personally thank all those reviewers:**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- Ramrikai (Reviewed Twice)**

 **\- Guest (x3) (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- NH SHIPPER**

 **\- Muertadehambre**

 **\- smileybasmah-chan**

 **\- PugCurl**

 **\- crayola94**

 **\- Katsuyurin (Reviewed Three Times)**

 **\- Kakau**

 **\- tinygreen**

 **\- JunkyArtist**

 **\- gio08**

 **Thank you all for your kind words! Your reviews are what make me carve out these chapters so fast!**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Please remember to review once you're done reading! Remember, dear readers, reviews are what fuel my creative juices!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 5/10/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: The War Camp**

Unknown to everyone in the Hyuuga clan, at dawn the following morning, the candle Hinata had lit inside the ancestral Hyuuga shrine was still burning brightly. The plaques on the floor were casting dark shadows in the dancing light of the single flame, and the eight stone carvings and statues of the clan guardians were on pedestals near the ceiling of the holy structure. There had once been a ninth statue, many in the clan believed, but the pedestal where the ninth guardian had once stood was now completely empty. No one knew what made the final guardian vanish without a trace, but over time, the mystery became more like a myth to the younger generation in the compound.

The ancient spirits of the Hyuuga ancestors and the brave guardians of the clan were said to be summoned in times of great peril for the noble family, but doing so required vast amounts of energy, patience, and chakra to persuade one to come forth, and over time, the knowledge on how to do so eventually became lost.

Hanabi had been able to coax the good-natured, if only slightly mischievous, Usagi to come out with the deep love she had for her wonderful big sister and her desire to do something kind to help her for when she met Lady Anko, and now, the most ancient spirit of all in the temple was reacting from the distress of the entire clan combined.

A gust of wind suddenly blew throughout the shrine, and the little pinprick of light from Hinata's candle was instantly extinguished. On the large ancestral plaque beside it, the kanji symbols that had been inscribed neatly into the stone began glowing brightly with light blue chakra. Nothing like this had happened in the temple in the most recent generations of the clan. There had been no need to, as things were as they should be with Hyuuga descendants, but now, it was time for the ancients to reawaken again. And it was all because of the decision of a certain misfit Hyuuga heiress.

From the chakra omitting from the holy plaque emerged a wispy, ghost-like figure of a young woman. She had a rather delicate-looking face, with pearlescent Byakugan eyes with hints of lilac in them; much like the eyes of Hitomi and her two daughters, and a third eye that was completely red in the center of her forehead. Her hair was pure white and so long, it swept behind her and could reach her ankles, and jutting out from the top of her head were two brown horns. She was also very feminine, judging by the pretty red lipstick that had been applied to her lips and the dark shade of nail polish adjourning her nails. She was wearing a high-collared kimono that was pure white, and intricate red lines and tomoe-shaped patterns ran down the center and the edges of the sleeves.

She was Lady Kaguya. The founder of the Hyuuga clan.

Lady Kaguya's smoky apparition hovered a few inches off the ground as she glanced down briefly at the extinguished candle with a stern, but still somewhat saddened expression. She had been briefly awakened the previous night when she sensed the plans that the foolish Hyuuga princess had made when she had first lit this candle here in the shrine. It had taken her some time to fully wake up enough to do anything to try and stop Hinata, but by that time, the young heiress had unfortunately already left the estate. Kaguya had hoped that by using her influence on the second-born Hyuuga daughter and having her toll the alarm through the clan that Hinata was missing, someone would have gone after the foolish girl and brought her back without any further meddling on her part. To her dismay, the head of the clan had a valid point when he had told his nephew that revealing the girl's treasonous actions would only get her executed and bring complete dishonor to the entire family. The matter was completely out of the mortal man's hands. There was no other choice. She and the rest of the ancestors had to interfere.

She could sense in the atmosphere that the other ancestors were also shocked and horrified by what the young heiress had done. They all wanted to fully awaken and discuss the matter, but alas, they were not powerful enough to force themselves out from their eternal rest in the afterlife. Kaguya had only been able to do it because she was the clan founder, and only she had the power to awaken the other being who had the power to summon forth the spirits of her fellow deceased clansmen.

The thought of awakening this other spirit actually made Kaguya cringe slightly in her ghostly form. She had never been particularly fond of this spirit. He was far too cynical and shrewd, not to mention extremely arrogant! Still though, desperate times called for desperate measures. She would just have to deal with him.

With a sigh, Kaguya turned to look at the incense holder of the golden nine-tailed fox hanging from the ceiling right near her head. She paused momentarily as she readied herself for the crudeness she knew the spirit would say in his arrogance for being awakened finally after so long, but then she nodded firmly, and waved her hand in the incense holder's general direction.

"Nine-Tails, awaken!" she commanded.

The entirety of the little golden fox figurine glowed brightly upon the demand of the clan founder. The metallic surface of the statue transformed into a mixture of fur and flesh. The eyes carved into the gold fully opened to a set of orbs that tried to focus in on its surroundings, but before it could, there was a puff of black smoke as the conversion was complete, and the fox fell to the floor with a loud plop, along with the bottom of incense burner, which made a loud clanging sound as it fell beside the creature.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was a very small creature with reddish orange fur and red eyes, with thick black markings that stretched out from around his eyes to the very tips of his ears, and upon each of his two front paws were a set of opposable thumbs. He was normally of an enormous, monstrous size, with a jaw full of sharp, pointy teeth, but a tattoo had long ago been applied to his back. It was the kanji symbol for the word 'seal.' So now, he looked more like a rounded, softer chibi version of his adult self with a set of baby fangs sticking out from the corners of his lips, and he was only about the size of a small puppy. His claws, which long ago would have been long, sharp knives that could slash any living beast to shreds, were only just starting to grow in. He looked utterly adorable in every way, and the fox didn't like it.

As the smoke died away, the fox's head whipped around curiously, and upon seeing the ghostly apparition of Lady Kaguya nearby, a small growl could be heard from the spirit's throat. Back in the old days, if one were to hear Nine-Tails growl, knees would quake as people froze in complete and utter fear. Now, his growl sounded more like that of a small purr, and if a human were to hear it, they would be filled with the urge to run over, scoop up the cute little fox, and hug it to bits and pieces. He definitely did not look at all like a ferocious beast.

"Kaguya," grumbled the fox. Unlike the rest of his body, which was small and cute thanks to the seal on his back, his voice was low and deep, as it was the one thing that the seal couldn't change. He barred his teeth at the apparition in what was meant to be a threatening way, but instead, it looked more like a toothy grin.

Kaguya's lips formed a thin, tight line. "Kurama," she greeted, nodding stiffly in return.

Kurama looked around at the various plaques in the Hyuuga family shrine, sensing the distress of the clan's ancestors. A cute, toothy smirk spread across the beast's face. "So, you're finally apologizing, right? You woke me up to apologize and restore me to my final self to help them."

Kaguya's pupil-less eyes narrowed at the fox's assumption. "You are incorrect, fox. I woke you up to awaken everyone else. We must discuss the recent events."

Kurama growled again. "Stupid woman! You have shamed me by cursing me into this form! I demand you remove this wretched seal on my back and restore me to my former glory! And return my rightful position as a Hyuuga clan guardian!"

"Silence!" shrilled Kaguya, her ghostly white eyes flashing dangerously at the cursed fox. "You brought your fate upon yourself! You do not make demands from me!"

"My brothers and sisters are all laughing at me right this second! Just look at them up there! They are watching and mocking me for what you did to my wonderful, beastly self!"

The tip of one of Kurama's nine orange tails pointed sharply up toward the ceiling, where the eight other beast statues remained. Like Kurama, each one had a number of tails attached to them, displaying their rank and power.

Kaguya shot the fox a look of clear disapproval. Despite how necessary it had been for her to awaken Kurama from his slumber, she was already regretting it. He was so rude!

"They are the true guardians of the Hyuuga clan," she said with a clear, empowering voice. "They have all protected the descendants of this clan for many eons, and have proven themselves worthy of their position. And you, O Demoted One?"

The final pedestal amongst the guardian statues was empty, as that was where he himself had once sat, but now, the fox was stuck in a rather minor, unimportant role as a family awakener. He glared hatefully up at the wispy spirit.

"You sealed away my true form and over half my powers and make me ring this horrible gong!" Kurama kicked the bottom of the incense holder with his back paw in frustration. "I've learned my lesson! I demand to be restored to my true self!"

Kaguya's eyes were still cold as she glared at the fox, but a look of pity spread across her face momentarily.

"Alas, Kurama, it is quite clear that you have not."

"But Kaguya—"

" _Enough!"_ shouted the ghost, her patience having at last been drawn to the breaking point. "I will hear no more of this nonsense! The answer is no, Kurama! Now, do the job you have been assigned! Wake up the Hyuuga ancestors!"

Kurama glared, but one of his tails reached over for the bottom of the incense holder. When propped up on its side as the tail was currently positioning it, it actually resembled that of a large gong.

"One family reunion coming right up," he childishly growled. He hated being the family bell ringer. It was such an embarrassment to the former fox guardian. He, who had once been considered the most powerful of the tailed-beasts, was now almost completely stripped of his powers and forced to spend his days just being the go-between person for the ancestral meetings. What he wouldn't give to bite that stupid Lady Kaguya's head off if she were still alive!

"Okay, filthy humans!" the chibi-like fox shouted out cutely as he began banging another of his tails repeatedly into the gong, wanting more than anything to damage the horrible metallic object in his haze of anger and frustration, but deep down knowing from previous experience that the damnable, stupid instrument wouldn't even dent. "Look alive! Let's go! Come on! Get up! Move it! Rise and shine! Time for a family meeting!"

Upon hearing the sound of the magical gong, more tendrils of light blue chakra glowed brightly from the names of other family ancestors etched in kanji symbols on the stone plaques, and they too soon formed the wispy apparitions of other ghostly beings. The Hyuuga clan ancestors were finally awake once again for the first time in many years, and as soon as they were all gathered, some of them at once began voicing their opinions in an unofficial debate about the actions of a certain young Hyuuga heiress.

"I knew it! I knew it!" jabbered a particularly crabby old crone irritably. "That Hinata was a troublemaker from the start!" She poked the tip of her long cane into the chest of her husband to emphasize her words.

He glared at his wife as he shoved the wooden stick away. "Don't look at me! She gets it from _your_ side of the family!" he snapped back.

A grandmother spoke up, but she was speaking in defense of Hinata. "She's just trying to help her father! For all the many faults those stuffy clan elders on the council give her, I'm amazed she even had the courage to go through with this! She's a brave girl! You should be praising her!" she sneered at the quarreling couple.

An uncle materialized with a small poof and carrying his trusty abacus, which he used to display the math he had worked out on how things would most likely turn out. "But even with her good intentions, if Hinata gets discovered, Hiashi Hyuuga will be forever shamed! Dishonor will come to the entire clan! Traditional values will disintegrate! Society will never accept them again!" he wailed desperately as the results plummeted.

The first of the clan to become nobles, an elderly husband and wife, were the next one's to voice their worried opinion. "Not to mention they'll all be stripped of their rank in nobility."

His wife nodded in agreement. "And Hinata has always been the one in the clan to be all for joining both sides of the family together! Without her as the next leader of the clan, the branch family will continue to be harassed by the use of that horrible seal our descendants of the main branch use on them…" she frowned sadly as she leaned into her husband's shoulder for comfort. There was no doubt that Hinata was a misfit, but most of the branch family adored the young heiress because of how kindly she always treated them. She was truly the representation of goodness in the main branch.

The irritable old bird waved her cane as she floated forwards a bit. "My children never caused such trouble! My son became a fine shinobi and my daughters all became acupuncturists!" she screeched.

Kurama glared at the ghosts from his spot on the floor, lightly shaking his head as he listened to them squabble. Lady Kaguya forcibly woke him up just to listen to this? He was meant for more than to spend the rest of eternity listening to petty arguments.

The old bird's husband floated up beside his wife. "Well, not all girls want to be acupuncturists!" he pointed out.

"No!" shot the voice of an old aunt. "Your great granddaughter wanted to be a _cross dresser!"_ she screamed in their ghostly faces.

All of the ancestral phantoms began shouting and screaming at one another as the debate over the current clan heiress turned ugly. Kurama rolled his eyes as the argument grew in volume. Alive or not, these human ancestors were all idiots. Despite being ghosts, if they continued shouting like this, someone from the clan was bound to approach the shrine to see just what the racket was. They might be apparitions, but while they were in this form, it was still possible for them to be seen by a living human. If that happened, they were all in trouble.

"Let a guardian bring her back," called out a calm, respectable voice.

Heads turned to see the spirit of Hinata's paternal uncle materialize from his plaque. All of the ancestors blinked upon hearing the sensible suggestion Hizashi had offered.

"A guardian?" repeated the old aunt.

"Yes," said Hizashi with a solemn nod. "My niece's heart is in the right place, but we cannot deny that her actions are careless and not thought out. She'll never be able to pull off this masquerade in the ninja forces. She's far too shy, and I know my son and my brother would be heartbroken if something should happen to her. We must send a guardian to retrieve her immediately, before she arrives at the training camps."

He waved his wispy hand up at the eight carvings of the tailed beasts above their heads. Kurama growled lowly, jealous beyond all belief that one of his tailed brethren would be sent out instead of him, but none of the other spirits heard him in their excited, agreeing chatter.

"Yeah!" agreed the old bird's husband. He seized hold of Kurama and his tiny gong, and thrust them in the direction of the One-Tailed beast statue, Shukaku. A tanuki raccoon with a series of marking covering its stone body. "Awaken the most cunning! A trouble maker no doubt, but nonetheless strong enough to bring the girl back should she refuse to come back willingly! It's perfect!"

Kurama rolled his eyes and prepared to ring the gong to awaken Shukaku, but the uncle with the abacus instantly protested, and hurried forward to seize the fox away from Shukaku and instead pointed him toward the statue of the Two-Tailed cat, Matatabi.

"No! Absolutely not! We must send the swiftest! Hinata must be gotten quickly before she furthers her mistakes!"

Kurama glared at the uncle, and prepared to bang the gong again, but this time an aunt intervened, and dragged Kurama toward the statue of Kokuo, the Five-Tailed dolphin horse.

"She will not listen if we send a being who will force her to come back! We must send the wisest! He will convince Hinata to return of her own free will!" she argued.

" _Silence!"_ shouted Lady Kaguya.

The aunt dropped Kurama as all the chatter in the room at once stopped. The nine-tailed fox spirit and his gong fell to the floor with a loud clang. The sound was ignored by all the apparitions. If Lady Kaguya yelled, they listened.

Kaguya hovered in the air beside a solitary window in the shrine. She turned to look out it, where the statue of the lone tree with the ten stone branches could clearly be seen in the clan gardens. Then she turned back to look at her fellow ancestors.

"We must send the most powerful of all…"

Kurama's hopes soared, and he dropped the gong in order to hop up to the pedestal where he had at one point sat as a guardian to the Hyuuga clan.

"I get the drift, Kaguya. I shall go," he said haughtily.

There was a brief pause, and then every ghost in the shrine began to laugh mockingly at the fox.

The fox growled in contempt. How dare these humans think so poorly of him! He was the Nine-Tailed Fox! He deserved respect!

"How dare you all! I can bring the stupid girl back! Watch this!"

He inhaled deeply, and shot out a miniature sized tailed beast ball out into the air, which died away after a few seconds. In his normal form, he could form beast balls of greater size and filled with much more power, but considering how long it had taken him to get used to his smaller sealed form, to even make a beast ball of this size was quite the accomplishment!

He grinned at his success, and looked down confidently at the ancestors down below. "How's that for a guardian, huh?! Remove this seal from me and I'll be three times as powerful!"

Kaguya glared at him. "You had your chance to protect the Hyuuga clan long ago, Kurama, and you threw your chance away!"

"You purposefully led Hizaki Hyuuga to disaster!" screeched a furious old man.

The said ancestor was a ninja judging by his clothes, and was holding his own, beheaded head as he glared at the fox.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot, stupid fox," he grumbled.

Kurama shot his former charge a glare of his own. "Foolish man! I did you a favor! You were an incompetent ass who gloated about glory every chance he had! Had you come home alive, you would have come across as petty and arrogant! An honorable death made you a hero in the eyes of the clan!"

"Enough!" roared Kaguya. "Kurama, you disrespected the entire clan when you purposefully had Hizaki killed, and that is why your powers are sealed away! You were stripped of your duties and should consider yourself lucky to have the privilege of being the family awakener! Only when you have proven your worth to this clan will your powers return and I shall ever consider reinstating you to your former position! We shall be sending a _real_ guardian to retrieve Hinata!"

"I _am_ a real guardian!" Kurama shouted back.

"You are not deserving of this spot!" shouted Kaguya, lunging forward and slapping the fox off the pedestal and threw him out toward the exit of the temple. "Now, go awaken the Ten-Tailed Tree!"

Kurama growled as he stomped his way through the doorway, but turned back around at the last moment.

"You're sending the stupid tree spirit and not me?! You are all idiots!" he snapped.

The gong was thrown out after him, crashing into his tiny body and sending him tumbling all the way down the stone steps leading down into the clan gardens.

Kaguya sighed as soon as he was gone. Kurama was a definite annoyance, and until he learned from his mistakes, he would continue to be one. If she were still alive, she knew she'd feel the beginnings of a headache starting to form.

Outside the temple, Kurama was grumbling as he trudged along toward the statue of the Ten-Tailed tree spirit.

"Just one chance, is that too much to ask?!" he complained loudly, dragging his paws and his many tails behind him as approached the statue. "It's not like it'd kill any of them. They're dead already! And how am I ever to prove my worth to the clan and be restored to former glory if they don't even give me the opportunity to prove myself?!"

All this and more he muttered under his breath until he stood directly in front of the stone tree. He sighed irritably, and banged the gong several times with one of his tails.

"Wake up, Ten-Tails! Go and fetch stupid Hinata!" he barked.

The spirit of the tree remained encased in stone.

For a moment, Kurama forgot his anger as confusion clouded his brain. He didn't understand why the statue wasn't coming to life. He may not like his role as the family awakener, but he had done the job correctly for many years now. He had the orders and the authority, and the ancestors of the clan not to mention the currently living clansmen were already in distress. Banging the gong should have brought the statue to life immediately.

After a moment though, Kurama growled, one of his ears twitching in frustration. "Hey! You overgrown weed! Snap to it! Do not ignore me!" he snapped, hopping up onto one of the statues many branches and banging the gong loudly against the tree trunk.

But nothing happened.

Kurama growled even louder, but he still looked very cute. "Wake up! The worthless heiress to the clan is in danger! Go do your job!"

All was silent from the tree spirit.

Kurama roared in anger. How dare the Ten-Tails ignore him! The tree spirit had the honor of being a guardian and wasn't even going to do his duties?! He may have in the past purposefully led his human charge to disaster, but at least he responded to the guardian call and tried to help him initially! He began banging his gong repeatedly against the stone structure of the branch he was sitting on.

"Wake! Up! Wake! Up! Wake! Up!" He shouted, banging the gong with his tail against the branch with the shout of every word.

He continued to shout and bang the gong, until—

 _Smash!_

—the stone branch crumbled away underneath him.

Kurama yelped, and fell to the ground along with the stone branch. A rare look of shock and remorse spread across the fox's face in absolute panic at what he had done. Dread seeped through his tiny body as he watched as the crack spread through the stone surface of the tree from where the branch had been.

"Gods and spirits…" he whispered. "No! Stop breaking! Stop! Don't break! They'll skin me alive!"

It was too late. Within moments, the entirety of the large statue crumbled away until it was nothing more than a large pile of rubble in the middle of the clan gardens.

Kurama stared at the wreckage in utter shock for a short time. Then he started screaming and grunting in a mixture of both anger and fear.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" he shouted. "Son of a bitch! No! That's just great! Now what?! I'm doomed, and all 'cause Miss Man decides to take her stupid little drag show on the road!"

As he continued shouting out curses to the sky about the destruction of the Ten-Tailed tree spirit and the stupidity of the Hyuuga clan heiress, a small pair of eyes was watching Kurama from a small bed of flowers a short distance away. Little Usagi had seen everything that had occurred with Kurama and the statue. She considered the fox for a moment as he continued to bicker to himself, and then hopped forward so that she was standing right in front of him. Kurama blinked, recognizing the rabbit.

"You're the rabbit the other Hyuuga girl summoned yesterday. What do you want? Can't you see I'm in the middle of a crisis?!"

Usagi's tiny eyes formed a glare, not appreciating the fox's attitude, but nonetheless squeaked out her idea. Kurama laughed mockingly.

"You suggest I go get her? Your brain must be even smaller than your body! After this big mess I'd have to bring her home with a medal to get back in the temple!" he snapped.

Usagi twitched her pink nose in anger and squeaked loudly. She told her fellow spirit all about how Hinata was not only the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, but a good, caring person, and that it had been her fault that the kind girl had failed the whole family by angering Lady Anko due to her meddling. She wanted to help Hinata in her mission, but she couldn't do it alone. She needed her fellow fox spirit's help.

Again, the fox laughed in her face. "Shy girl with a stained honor? Stupid girl, she won't last two minutes in the ninja war. She's gonna get herself killed the first day the platoon sets out for the front lines. I feel bad for her, but I have no love of the Hyuuga clan, nor for humans in general. All I care about is getting my full powers and my old job back."

Usagi bleated in anger. The arrogance of this fox! If she were only bigger, she'd give him a good firm kick to teach him some humility! But alas, becoming slightly bigger, if only for a few moments, was not something she could currently do. To do so required one of two things. One, the command of her summoner, Hanabi, and Hanabi had not given her the command to kick Kurama. Hanabi wasn't even aware she hadn't returned to the plaques in the shrine after returning home yesterday after Hinata's failed meeting with the matchmaker. Or two, the desire to protect her mistress, Hinata. While this involved Hinata, Hinata herself wasn't in mortal peril this exact moment and she wasn't anywhere nearby. She couldn't use her spiritual powers unless either one of those requirements had been met.

She squeaked sadly. How could she get this fox to help her help Hinata?

Then a wild idea came to her tiny bunny mind, and she quickly repeated it to the arrogant fox. This time, the fox looked genuinely interested in what she had said.

"Wait a minute… are you implying that if I make Hinata a war hero, they'll be begging me to come back to work?"

Usagi glared and bleated a quick correction to his assumption.

Kurama bared his teeth at the little rabbit's response. "Hold it! What makes you think you'd come with me?!"

A twitch of a floppy right ear and a series of tiny peeps was his reply.

"You're lucky?" Kurama openly began laughing again. "Do I look like a sucker to you, rabbit?"

Usagi haughtily squeaked as she began hopping along the ground in the direction of the main gates leading out of the compound. Foxes were supposed to be clever and tricky beings, and yet this one couldn't tell that she had used reverse psychology on him? Completely stupid.

"What do you mean, a loser?!" snapped Kurama, charging along after the rabbit out of the compound. "What if I bite one of your ears off and swallow it whole?! Then who's the loser?! Me or you?!"

Squeak again.

Kurama ran full speed away from the Hyuuga estate as he chased after the rather clever bunny.

* * *

Orochimaru was in a very, very good mood. He and his Sound Ninjas had successfully finished a raid on a mountain village during their march toward the Imperial City in the heart of all five regions of the new Japan. It had been quite an excellent raid, too. They left no survivors in the attack, and after some of his more perverse ninjas had entertained themselves with some of the women, they restocked up on food and supplies and then burned the entire settlement to the ground before continuing their planned route through the Land of Earth, a mountainous region in the new Japan.

In all honesty, the Land of Earth was a rather good county to march through if you wanted to keep an army of ninjas under low profile. Sure, the mountainous region of the new Japan was taxing to move through, but the mountains themselves were large and rocky, which would make it difficult for tracker-nins to find them. Taking a detour through the Land of Earth would require a somewhat longer march from his ninjas, but it would be worth it in the long run for when they began their siege on the Imperial City and he would at last have his opportunity to kill his old sensei.

Orochimaru smirked at the thought as he stroked the head of his scaly personal snake summoning that was wrapped around his shoulders. Hiruzen Sarutobi had better be keeping one eye open when he slept these days. He'd already successfully killed his son. He would not rest until he killed every single member of the old man's family as well as him.

Suddenly, his snake's golden eyes narrowed as he began hissing and spitting angrily in the direction of some trees off to the right. Orochimaru instantly raised his hand to call for his forces to stop moving. If his snake sensed something, chances were that it was something big. He never raised the alarm for anything minor.

Upon seeing the silent demand of their leader, the Sound Ninjas behind him immediately halted, and his most trusted five generals approached. The Sound Four, the four men who were in charge of the attack and defense skills of the troops, and Kabuto Yakushi, a medic-nin who was in charge of keeping all the men in tip-top shape after any battles, not to mention his most loyal partner in his entire ninja forces. With a series of silent hand signals, each of his five generals asked what the cause for the halt was, and Orochimaru directed for three of the members of the Sound Four, Jirobo, Tayuya, and Kidomaru, a man who was slightly overweight and had tufts of orange hair on his head, a young man with untamable red hair wearing a black hat kept securely on his head with a set of bandages, and the final one had six arms and shaggy black hair, to go and check it out. Each of the men nodded and disappeared with puffs of smoke in simple shunshin techniques.

The remaining members of the Sound Ninja forces didn't have to wait long. The three returned minutes later, with the defeated forms of two ninjas from the Land of Fire bound up with chakra absorbing wire which they threw at the feet of their supreme leader. They both groaned a bit as they hit the ground, and looked around nervously at their captors.

"Imperial scouts, sir," reported Kidomaru.

Hayate Gekko and Genma Shiranui couldn't deny that they were nervous, but they stayed strong in the face of danger. If they were to die today at the hands of Sound Ninjas, they would die as ninjas of the great new country of Japan. They would die in the name of their personal Hokage, and each of the other Kages as well as the Mizukage Regent.

Orochimaru smiled rather eerily as he strolled forward lazily to get a better look at the spies. He recognized their Leaf headbands. He wanted to see what type of men his old sensei had sent to try and keep tabs on him and his army.

Genma's eyes narrowed when he saw the snake traitor. "Orochimaru…" he spat.

Orochimaru chuckled in amusement at the small show of defiance as he knelt down so that he was at the same level of the two Konoha shinobi. He pulled a kunai out from his personal weapons pouch. Both of the ninjas froze and shut their eyes, ready to accept their fate, but all the snake summoner did was cut loose their bindings. They both blinked and looked back up at his smirking face.

"Nice work, gentlemen," Orochimaru chuckled. "You found the Sound Army."

His words earned an honest laugh from the Sound ninjas that had heard him.

Hayate forced a glare on his face as he stared at the infamous traitor.

"The Four Kage's and the Kage Regent will stop you!" he snapped.

His words only seemed to amuse Orochimaru even further. "Stop me? They invited me…"

With little to no warning, the snake was back on his feet, and had grabbed Hayate harshly by his throat. Hayate gasped for oxygen as the snake-like man tightly choked him.

"By building the Great Wall, they all challenged my strength… Well, I'm here to play their game…"

The kunai in his hand crept up towards Hayate's throat. Hayate's eyes went wide as he stared death in the face. There was a brief pause as Hayate waited for the inevitable end, but then he was thrown roughly back down to the ground.

"Go!" Orochimaru shouted, turning at once toward Genma as he rushed to help his friend back up, making sure to keep the kunai pointed firmly after his running figure in case he tried something. As soon as both shinobi were standing once again, he continued. "Tell the Hokage and your other leaders to send their strongest ninjas! I'm ready for them…"

Neither of the Leaf ninjas responded to his demand. Instead, they just turned around, and began running at top speed through the rocky mountainside to report their findings to their own scouting platoon, though they did send nervous looks back over their shoulders at the Konoha traitor and the rest of the Sound Ninjas.

Orochimaru waited until they were out of earshot before turning to face his most trusted general.

"How many men does it take to deliver a message?" he curiously asked Kabuto.

Kabuto grinned as he adjusted his circular glasses to be resting closer toward his eyes, and pulled a set of senbon needles out from his weapons pouch.

"One," he answered.

The series of needles soared through the air, and were implanted directly into Hayate's back.

* * *

After riding nonstop for several hours in succession, Hinata sensed that Rin was starting to get winded beneath her, and gently tugged on the reins to have him slow down to a simple trot. "E-Easy, boy… we can s-slow down now… W-We're far enough…"

Rin neighed in response and came to a halt, panting heavily from the long exertion of the seemingly endless run. Although the stallion was used to daily rides with his young mistress in the forests around their village, he was still rather spoiled, meant for pleasure riding rather than long distance traveling or for war. He had yet to build up his stamina for long periods of exercise. That was something that would definitely be remedied while he and Hinata served in this war.

Hinata gently hopped down from his back and carefully unsaddled the horse temporarily to help him relax before calmly rubbing his neck for a job well done. "Good b-boy, Rin. According t-to the map… w-we only have a f-few more miles t-to go… We'll stop h-here for awhile and r-rest… Go drink f-from the stream over t-there…"

Rin whinnied and nuzzled his face against Hinata's shoulder for a moment, but then, as though he understood his mistress's words, he trotted off a short distance away to take a long, much needed drink from the nearby river.

Hinata smiled, and quietly followed her stallion and sipped from the stream before moving to sit down on a large boulder to rest for a short while herself. As she sat there, her thoughts turned rather sad, and she stared up at the blue sky.

"I h-hope everyone back h-home is okay… H-Hanabi probably cried w-when they found out… And f-father's most likely m-mad… The c-clan elders probably c-convinced him to finally d-disinherit me…"

She frowned at the thought as old fears came to her mind. Although the young Hyuuga princess knew her reasons for running away from home like this were justified, she couldn't help but think of how she had always failed in her duties of ever doing anything right in the past. She was the eldest child of one of the greatest clan head's to have ever led the Hyuuga clan in over ten generations, and yet, she was considered to be the failed heiress of the clan.

 _Disgraceful… worthless… embarrassment… clumsy… disappointment… shameful… failure… pathetic… dishonorable…_ So many things she had been called and criticized for in the past, and now, all those words were ringing in her head. She'd heard people, especially clan elders, whisper these things when they thought she wasn't nearby or wasn't listening so many times before, she'd actually forgotten how often they were said on an almost daily basis, but she remembered them now, and it hurt just as much to even think about it as it did to hear them said for real.

But then she thought about what life would be like if her father was gone, and her expression became determined. "I-It's worth it, though! S-So long as father l-lives a long life, it d-doesn't matter whether or n-not I stay the clan heiress! I l-love my father, that the w-whole reason why I'm even h-here!"

Rin whinnied from where he was still drinking a few feet away in his own form of encouragement. Hinata smiled at her horse.

"I'm o-okay, Rin, really. I p-promise…"

Rin wasn't convinced by the meek words, and snorted lightly in worry. Hinata laughed, and stood up from the boulder she'd been resting on to lightly stroke his snowy white mane.

"T-Thank you for worrying about m-me, Rin, but I'll b-be fine. Y-You should really be w-worrying about how I'm g-going to pull this whole t-thing off…"

Rin blinked before bending down to graze on a patch of bright green grass in front of him. He didn't understand what his mistress meant.

"I… I'm g-gonna have to pretend t-to be a man, R-Rin… I'll h-have to walk l-like a man, t-talk like a man, even a-act like a man… I-It's not going t-to be easy!" she explained. "D-Do you… Do y-you think maybe I s-should practice before I g-get to the training camp?"

Rin didn't give his mistress any sort of a horse's way of a reply. He was too busy filling his stomach with the delicious green grass.

Hinata frowned by the lack of response. "F-Fine! Ignore m-me! But I s-suppose I really s-should practice, though… I n-need to be able t-to convince everyone in the N-Ninja Forces that I'm a b-boy, after all…"

She walked away a few paces to have some more space as she practiced, and was silent for a few moments as she considered how to go about this. After a short time, she nodded to herself with slight confidence as an idea for an introduction came to her mind. She turned her attention back toward her horse.

"O-Okay, okay, h-how about this?" she said.

The young heiress cleared her throat, and made her best attempt to try and deepen the sound of her voice and not stutter as she spoke.

"Excuse me, where d-do I sign in? Oh, you brought your own k-kunais with you? So did I! Um… having k-kunais is… is very manly and… and t-tough!"

She attempted to pull a kunai knife out from the weapons pouch attached to her leg, but her clumsy nature caused the simple tool to slip from her fingers and fall to the ground beside her foot.

She looked and sounded so absurd, Rin actually looked up from where he'd been munching on the grass, and began neighing in a way that could only be considered a horse's way of laughter. The young-woman-disguised-as-a-man turned bright red as she scowled at the stallion, and stamped her foot loudly to get his attention.

"I-I'm working on it, R-Rin! Do not l-laugh!" she said sternly in her normal voice. The horse only whinnied louder as though it couldn't stop laughing.

Hinata became even more embarrassed by her mishap, and was about to actually order her horse to stop laughing at her, when she considered how she might have looked had she messed up that badly in front of other men in the army camp. She'd failed to even be able to properly grip the handle of a kunai; one of the most commonly used weapons for ninjas, and had dropped it the second she took it out of her weapons pouch. Then there was the problem her voice presented. In her effort to try and make her voice sound like that of a man, all she'd done was make her voice sound rather scruffy, as though her voice hadn't deepened like other men's did after hitting puberty. Plus, she knew how shy and nervous she was. One sudden sound or unanticipated movement, and she might accidentally squeak loudly or make her voice sound too high. And what man ever stuttered? Her shy personality would definitely not suit a young man serving in the Allied Shinobi Forces. There were quiet and reserved men out there, her cousin Neji being a prime example, but even they had times where they were capable of loosening up and be themselves around their closest friends. Unfortunately for the Hinata, she had never been very comfortable of ever dropping her shy persona around anyone. Not even her own family, with the only exception being perhaps Hanabi.

She sighed sadly. "Oh, w-who am I fooling? It's g-going to take a m-miracle to get me into the ninja f-forces…"

Quite abruptly, there was a sudden rustling of leaves from a cluster of bushes off to the side. Immediately, Hinata snatched the kunai she had dropped and whirled around, keeping it ready in her hand as Rin instantly stopped snickering at his mistress and instead focused his attention on the approaching noise in the bushes. If whoever or whatever was in the bushes was a threat to his mistress, he would not hesitate to defend her. Hinata was his girl, and therefore she was his everything.

"H-Hello…?" Hinata called out nervously, silently contemplating whether or not to activate her bloodline limit to see for herself if there was an approaching threat. "Is… Is a-anyone there…?"

There was a brief pause, but then, a tiny little orange fox with nine long tails emerged from the bushes and into the clearing, blinking its red eyes repeatedly as it stared up at the disguised woman and her horse.

Hinata stayed guarded for several moments in case the strange fox decided to attack either of them, but then she finally relaxed. She put the kunai away back in her weapons pouch, and gently patted Rin's back to calm him down. "It's okay, R-Rin… It's j-just… just a l-little spirit. N-No need to f-fear…" she assured him.

Rin snorted. He did not trust the look in the mysterious fox's eyes, and kept his guard up as Hinata slowly approached the creature.

Hinata gently smiled as she knelt down right in front of the fox spirit, and slowly extended out her open palm to show she meant no harm. She let her hand hover warily out in front of the fox's black nose. "H-Here, boy… Here, boy… I… I m-mean you no harm…" she said softly, not wanting to provoke it.

Kurama carefully eyed her hand for a moment, but then looked back up at the girl with an exasperated expression on his face. "I'm not gonna smell it, if that's what you're wondering!" he snapped.

A loud shriek of surprise escaped the lips of the Hyuuga heiress as she whipped her hand back, and fell over on her bottom in her haste to back away from the talking fox. Rin lunged forward with the attempt of stomping the spirit with his hooves, he too also afraid of this anomaly in nature, but Kurama would have none of that. He bared his fangs and growled threateningly at the white horse before releasing a small beast ball from his lips. The minor attack hit the grass a few feet in front of Rin, not harming him, but did successfully scare him. He reared back in the air before backing away rather nervously.

Kurama rolled his eyes at the skittish behavior that both Hinata and her horse had just shown him. "This is supposedly the girl who is going to fight a war? And will bring great honor to the Hyuuga clan by pretending to be a boy? You definitely need a miracle, girl, because judging by your reaction now, you won't last three seconds in the training camps without my help."

Hinata's pearlescent eyes widened at what the fox had just said, and cleared her throat nervously before trying to deepen her voice once again and not stutter. "I… I d-don't know who or what you are, Mr. Nine-Tailed F-Fox… but… but you're w-wrong. I am indeed a Hyuuga, but as y-you can see, I'm a boy! Not a g-girl!"

Kurama laughed in amusement. "Drop the act, girl. It's not even that good. And you have nothing to fear from me. I am the miracle you were praying for."

Hinata blinked, not really sure what to make of this sudden change of events. "I'm sorry, b-but I'm afraid I d-don't understand…"

Kurama flashed a grin with his sharp white fangs as little Usagi hopped into the clearing, having finally caught up with the rude fox spirit. "You are Hinata Hyuuga, the heiress to the main branch of the prestigious Hyuuga clan. I am the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit known as Kurama. I've been sent by your ancestors to guide you through your masquerade."

An indignant series of squeaks came from the tiny rabbit sprite from not being properly reintroduced to the elder sister of her summoner. It didn't matter though, because Hinata instantly recognized the little bunny.

"Oh! U-Usagi! How n-nice to see you a-again!" she chimed, stepping forward once again and opening up her palm so the rabbit could climb onto it. Usagi bleated happily and nuzzled her furry face against Hinata's slender thumb. The shy heiress lightly giggled as she softly stroked Usagi's furry head with her opposite thumb. Despite all the trouble the rabbit had caused her with Lady Anko during her matchmaking session, she was still very fond of the little spirit.

Eventually, Usagi got her fill of cuddles, and hopped up Hinata's arm so as to rest on her shoulder. Hinata smiled at the spirit, and then focused her attention back on Kurama.

"I… I m-must say… Y-You are very cute, t-too, Kurama," she said, gently picking up the fox and hugging him into her chest.

The fox did not like being called cute, nor did it like the hug it was receiving. He was the most powerful fox spirit in all of the Hyuuga clan spirits! If it weren't for the fact that he had to make sure that this stupid girl survived this war and won at least a few medals of honor during her service in the ninja forces in order to be reinstated as an official guardian for the family and get that annoying seal removed from his back, he would have bitten off her hand to get her to release him. Instead, he used one of his tails to give her a light slap in the face, and then hopped out of her arms. He angrily pawed the ground in front of him as he growled at the Hyuuga heiress.

"Do not call me cute or try to hug me, woman! I may have been sent here to help you, but leave me with some form of dignity!"

Hinata squeaked and turned bright red as she bowed her head low in a form of an apology. "I'm t-terribly sorry, Kurama…" she spluttered out.

The fox snickered at the flustered girl. "You better heed my advice! 'Cause if anyone in the Allied Shinobi Forces find out you're a girl, the penalty is death after all!"

Hinata nodded shyly, but then something rather obvious came to her mind, and she gazed down at the little fox spirit with obvious puzzlement on her face.

"W-Wait a minute, why are y-you so… so tiny? H-How can you h-help me if you're the s-size of a small p-puppy?"

Kurama growled at the comparison, but made sure to bite back a rather rude retort. In this instance, she _had_ asked a valid question.

"See the seal on my back?" he asked, turning in place so Hinata could see the kanji symbol inked into his fur. "It was applied to shrink me down so that I am travel-size for your convenience. It would be a problem if others were able to notice me, wouldn't it? If I was my real size, your cow over there would die of fright."

Rin snorted, insulted to have been called a cow, and tried to stomp on the fox again. Kurama dodged the minor attack, thoroughly amused. All in all, it was only half a lie. While the seal had been placed as a punishment and to bind his powers, it _did_ also shrink him down from his normal size. If he was his normal size, he wouldn't be surprised if the dumb horse did die of fright!

Hinata gently patted the horse's flank to calm him, but her head was nodding in acceptance to the fox's reply. Although it was a lie, it was a clever lie, and Hinata believed him.

"I… I s-suppose that does m-make sense…" she said with a smile.

Kurama nodded, and then, without warning, he jumped forward, landed on Hinata's shoulder opposite the one Usagi was resting on, and began to crawl underneath her green flak jacket and down the back of her baggy white shirt. The girl squeaked in surprise.

"W-Wait a minute! What… W-What are you d-doing?!" she all but shrieked, her face flaming red as she felt the fox wriggle into a position just below her shoulder blades, hidden from view due to the special ninja flak jacket and chainmail armor.

"I'm just letting you know where I'll be hiding in case you need me. You can't very well walk into the training camp with me in plain sight, after all. People will know there's something different about you if they see you walking around with a fox with nine tails!"

Usagi bleated in agreement, and quickly hopped down the length of Hinata's arm until she managed to hop into one of the open front pockets of the flak jacket. She squeaked happily at the young heiress before tucking her head down fully into the pocket, completely concealing her from view.

Hinata blushed shyly and nodded. She felt the fox's claws rake into her skin as she stood back up, and winced in slight pain. "O-Okay, but… but please b-be careful. Your c-claws are pinching my s-skin…" she quietly mumbled.

The fox snickered. "You'll have to get used to that. If I don't press onto you tightly, I'll fall all the way down your shirt. Would you prefer a little bit of innocent pain, or would you rather I slip and slide all the way through your armor?"

Hinata 'eeped!' in her shock of just thinking about such an embarrassing thing occurring, and she immediately shook her head vehemently from side to side.

"N-No, no, no! I'll b-be fine! I'll deal w-with the pain!"

Kurama snickered as he nestled into a comfortable position underneath Hinata's shirt collar. "Too bad. I'll admit that it would have been a rather interesting experience."

Hinata's face flushed scarlet from his words, but in this instance she ignored him and instead strolled back over to Rin. Rin glared at the patch of reddish-orange fur that was only barely noticeable from the back of Hinata's shirt. He did not approve of that fox at all, but it was his mistress's decision to let the two spirits stay. He did not have to like his girl's choice of additional companions, but he did have to respect it.

Hinata gently patted his neck and carefully saddled him back up and remounted her noble steed. "L-Let's get going then, R-Rin. Only another f-five miles to g-go. We can d-do that, am I r-right?" she giggled.

Rin neighed in agreement, and set off again on the trail at a well-paced trot as they resumed their journey.

* * *

After only a few more hours worth of riding, Hinata finally saw in the far of distance an entire sea of hundreds of white tents spread across a large field. She smiled when she saw her final destination, and patted Rin's neck happily. "S-See there, boy? There's the w-war camp! We finally m-made it!"

Rin neighed happily at his mistress's delight, and quickened his pace slightly so that they could get there quickly. As they rode, Kurama poked his furry head out from the collar of Hinata's baggy shirt. "Watch your voice! You sounded like a girl again!" he growled.

Hinata squeaked and turned bright red. "R-Right! I'm… I'm s-sorry…" she said quietly, deepening her voice back to that scruffy tone once again.

"And stop stuttering! People will know something's up with you if you act all embarrassed all the time! Have some confidence!"

Usagi poked her head out from the pocket of the flak jacket momentarily to bleat in agreement.

"Yes, you're right, Kurama," Hinata agreed, focusing on speaking every word just right so as to not stutter again. "I… I will have to work harder… harder than ever so as to not s-stutter in front of everyone… Oops!" she squeaked, realizing she had just stuttered on the word 'stutter' itself.

Kurama sighed. "It was still a better attempt than before. If you can least minimize your stuttering to at least every other sentence, you might just squeeze by."

"Okay, thanks for the advice, K-Kurama…"

Kurama sighed as he hid himself back inside her shirt. Who knew he'd have to work with such a nervous girl in order to get his powers and old job back? This was going to be a very _long_ war…

Hinata gulped as she approached the main entrance to the training camp and dismounted Rin. In addition to all the tents scattered about with the emblem of Japan's new national flag imprinted on the entrance to the tent flaps of each one, there were men everywhere. There were some who were only now arriving, just like her, and were approaching the drafting tent a short distance away, and some that looked as though they had arrived earlier or perhaps even yesterday, judging by how they were lounging about and relaxing. Some were wearing headbands that showed they came from the Land of Fire like her; others wore headbands from the other main regions of the country, like the Land of Wind or the Land of Water, or another minor region, such as the Land of Tea or the Land of Hot Water. Some men were sharpening their sets of kunai and discussing various jutsus they knew and requesting to spar; others were talking amongst themselves and laughing boisterously together in a rather uncouth manner.

It was all very overwhelming to the young heiress, and she froze for a moment as she clutched Rin's reins tightly in her hand. How was she supposed to do this? Pretend to be a man? It had all seemed rather simple when she came up with this whole idea late last night, but now, standing at the entrance to the war camp and being here herself, the whole concept suddenly became very real. She couldn't even remember how to move her limbs.

Kurama sensed her distress, and poked his head out again. "Don't just stand there, girl! You look weird! Walk inside!"

Hinata jumped. "R-Right!" she whispered back.

She took a deep breath for strength, and gently tugged on Rin's reins to guide him as she made her way into the camp. She knew she had to sign in and register for her spot in the army by presenting herself as her father's non-existent son, but first, she had to find the stables and let Rin get some rest, or at least find a spot where she could tie him up for a short time while she took care of any formalities at the drafting tent.

She walked around for some time, but still couldn't find the stables. She was really puzzled. She knew that this was a temporary army camp and that ninjas didn't always use horses while on the battlefield, but there had to be a place where the high-rankings ninjas and advisors from the Imperial City kept their horses at, right? Plus, there were some ninjas that chose to fight with horses, so where were they? She couldn't have been the only recruit to have brought a horse… could she?

She gulped. If she was, she might have just ostracized herself before even being able to properly introduce herself to anyone here. But if that was the case, it wasn't like there wasn't anything she could do about it. Unlike most of these men here who were already registered ninjas and were accustomed to high-speed, long distance travel on foot, she was a woman who had never gone further than ten miles away from her village, and only while horseback riding. She had no choice but to bring her horse. She would never have gotten here on time today if she'd left home on foot. As humiliating as this would be if she really was the only recruit to have thought to bring a horse, she had no choice but to ask if there was even a stables here where she could put Rin in, and if not, where there might be a place where she could tie him up for awhile until she was done at registration.

She spied a set of young men who appeared to be around the same age as her speaking by a flagpole, and standing at the side of one of the men was a large dog almost the same size of Rin. The first one was sporting a bright green jumpsuit with orange legwarmers, and wore the standard green ninja flak jacket and chainmail armor. His hands were wrapped with bandages from injuring them during rigorous training sessions, and on his feet were a set of ninja sandals. Although his outfit was rather unusual, what really made Hinata blink twice when she saw him was that his shiny black hair was cut in a perfect bowl-cut style, and he had the bushiest set of eyebrows that she had ever seen. She didn't see a forehead protector on him anywhere, but judging by his accent, she assumed he was from the Land of Fire just like her.

"Yosh! I cannot wait until we are all sent out to the front lines! Thanks to Gai-sensei's private tutelage and my supreme taijutsu, I will personally defeat every single ninja in the Sound army! The flames of youth shall burn bright!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, man. Just make sure to leave a couple of them bastards for me and Akamaru to take on. Right, boy?"

The oversized dog with white fur and brown patches on its ears barked loudly beside its master, the second man. The other boy had rather messy dark brown hair on his head and canine-like teeth protruding from his mouth, and distinctive red markings were on both of his cheeks. In addition to the Konoha forehead protector he had tied around his head, he was wearing a form fitting black leather jacket with zippers all over the chest and sleeves, and a set of matching black pants and sandals. Although Hinata personally didn't know this man, she recognized him to be a member of the Inuzuka clan by the red facial marks on his cheeks and the ninja dog by his side. As a young noblewoman, she'd been instructed all about the various different prominent ninja clans in the Land of Fire other than that of the Hyuuga clan. Perhaps he would be kind to a fellow 'man' from another prestigious clan and point her in the direction of the stables or where she could tie up Rin for awhile. As a member of the Inuzuka clan, he was a big fan of animals himself. There was no reason why he shouldn't give her some directions.

Hinata nodded at her thought process, and carefully approached the two men.

"E-Excuse me, but can one of you tell me… tell me where the s-stables are?" she asked them in her scruffy version of a manly voice. She mentally winced upon realizing that she had stuttered twice.

Both the green spandex-wearing ninja and the boy from the Inuzuka clan turned to look at her, and then at the horse by her side. Then the Inuzuka clansmen raised a brow, as though puzzled by her question.

"There are no stables, idiot. Barely any ninjas use horses, other than _your_ type, Hyuuga boy."

Hinata blinked, thoroughly confused by his statement. "P-Pardon?"

The Inuzuka man scowled. "Exactly like I said. _Your_ type. You old ninja clans who think you're better than everyone else just because your clans have been around since the foundation of each of the separate regions. You all think you're better than those of us from the new clans or even civilian-born shinobi like Lee here."

Hinata's face flushed red, now completely insulted by his assumption. In all her years, not only had she never heard such a statement said about her own clan in that retrospect, but she had also never been spoken to so rudely before. It seemed like pretending to be a boy meant an entire new way of being approached and treated in general. "I… I'm not l-like that at all… I just w-want to know where t-to tie up my horse…"

"Try outside your tent, stupid."

"I just got here… I h-haven't set it up yet…"

The rude Inuzuka man rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to spout out some other type of witty retort, but the green spandex ninja he had called Lee cut him off.

"Kiba, stop harassing him. It's clear he just wants some directions." Lee turned to Hinata and pointed toward a fence post a short distance away. "Try over there, but be sure to move it later after you set up your tent. There aren't many other horses here, and yours might get mistaken for one of the official army one's the General or the leading Commanders are using."

"O-Okay. Thank you…" Hinata nodded appreciatively to Lee before turning to lead Rin off towards the fence.

"Smell ya later, Stutters!" Kiba called out mockingly after her, and even the dog Akamaru barked after her retreating figure in a rather insulting manner.

Hinata's ears burned as she tied the end of Rin's reins to the end of the fence post. She had never realized that there were clans out there who had automatic dislike of the Hyuuga clan simply because they had been around far longer than some of the other newer clans that had been popping up in the past few decades. It definitely took the young heiress aback, but the more she considered the idea, she began to see why there might be clans out there that didn't like hers. In her entire clan, most of the men that resided in it were considered to be very stoic and stern towards others in their daily life, but had a softer side that they showed only around their families or those they were extremely close to. Her father and Neji were prime examples of this. If most of the ninjas who were coming to the training camp had only ever had contact with other similar Hyuuga male ninjas while during missions, it would be easy for them to assume that everyone in the clan acted the same way.

She however was nothing like that though. She was an oddball in her clan. Too kind. Too compassionate. Too caring. Too shy. Too disgraceful. She wasn't a serious person like her father and cousin. She took too much after her mother, and that made her a disgrace in the eyes of both the Hyuuga council and her own father. She just wasn't quality material as either a future clan head, or simply being a Hyuuga in general. She was truly a failure.

These thoughts rang in Hinata's head as she gently patted Rin's neck, and she blinked a few times to dispel the drops of water gathering in the corners of her eyes. Rin sensed his mistress's distress, and gently butted his head against her shoulder in an effort to cheer her up.

Hinata smiled, and stroked his long nose. "I-I'm okay, Rin, r-really… J-Just thinking about t-things… I never realized I c-could be hated by people I-I've never… n-never even met before…"

"Get used to it, woman. That's how things are in the ninja world," Kurama growled from underneath her shirt. "All clans like you as a woman because you're the Hyuuga heiress. In addition to being the next leader of the Hyuuga main branch, you can marry into their clan and increase their clan power with your Byakugan once you and your husband mate and start breeding. But as a man, you'll find that the ninjas in your extended family has offended far too many clansmen of those clans in the past and the ninjas here are probably going to use you as a scapegoat to return the favor. I suggest you use whatever shred of self-respect you have for both yourself and your clan and sass them right back should any of them start bothering you about it."

Hinata's cheeks burned from what her guardian had told her about only being liked as a woman for simply being able to pass on her bloodline abilities to any future children she might have. As much as she was embarrassed to hear such a thing, she knew that he was quite correct in this particular matter. She had figured that if she had not failed with Lady Anko and had struck a good match with a boy from another prominent clan, they would only marry her simply because of those reasons. Not only would there be no love at all in such a marriage, she would only be looked at as an object. Something only barely considered to have any worth at all because she could increase the politics between the Hyuuga clan and her husband's clan since she was her clan's heiress and could introduce her kekkei genkai into her husband's family tree. It actually made her a little angry as she thought about it, how she was considered second-rate simply because of her gender. Women had just as many feelings as men! She was not an object to be used as her owner saw fit!

Still though, standing up for herself wasn't exactly her strong point. "I… I'm n-not really good with c-confrontation, Kurama," she murmured quietly.

The fox spirit sighed. "Damn, this is going to be hard… For now, just be careful. Pay close attention to how the men here act, especially if they start arguing. Being quiet and reserved is somewhat okay for men, but even the quietest man has some pride within him and will make a retort of some kind if they get offended. Remember, you're not a girl anymore, so just quietly accepting the abuse is not an option. Guys fight back if they don't like something. It's just the way they are."

"Y-Yes, you're right," Hinata agreed. "I… I will d-do my very best!"

"Good. Then get your butt moving! You still need to sign in at the drafting tent!"

"Oh, r-right!"

She bade Rin one last farewell with a pat to his neck, and then made her way back through the camp to get to the drafting tent. As she walked, she passed various young men as they lounged about. Some of them were unwinding from their long journey's here with their shirts off as they chatted and laughed during their relaxation. That made her blush, but it was easy to ignore them compared to what other men were doing. Some were picking their noses and flicking the harvest on their fingers onto the grassy ground, or wiping it away on the hem of their pants. Others were using the chopsticks they had been using to eat their bowls of steamed rice with to pick the crud out from between their toes. There were even men comparing how far they could make their spit fly! It was nauseating to the Hyuuga heiress, and it took all her willpower not to full out stare. How could men act this way?

Kurama seemed to sense her discomfort as she shuffled hurriedly along past the recruits, and he couldn't help but snicker at her innocence. "Charming, aren't they?"

Hinata cringed. "They're d-disgusting!" she whispered.

Kurama smirked. "No, they're men. So stop shivering in disgust and pay attention. Remember, you're gonna have to act just like them, you know."

Hinata wanted to say something back, but as she passed by a large grouping of men near her own age, she caught wind of something being said, and couldn't help but stop and listen to their conversation.

"What do you mean, you've got a way to ensure that you won't be harmed at all during this war?! No such jutsu exists!"

"It's not a jutsu. It's a seal. Take a look."

The second man removed his flak jacket and unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a large, expensive tattoo inked directly into his chest and stomach. It seemed to resemble that of a large red dragon coiled around his front side.

"See? This tattoo will protect me from harm!" he boasted, proudly patting the coiled beast.

The two men looking on at the small conversation were both from the Land of Fire like Hinata. The first was that of a rather rotund build man with spiky brown hair that reached his waist, and had pink markings on his cheeks that resembled small swirls. In addition to the Konoha forehead protector tied around his head with red cloth and the small black stud earrings in his ears, he wore a red suit with plated armor on his torso, arms, and upper legs, and in the exact center of his chest was the kanji symbol for 'food' etched into the metal. Judging by the fact that he was so large and that he was munching down on a large bag of chips, Hinata guessed that he was from the notable Akimichi clan. He was snickering at the man who was proudly displaying his chest and muttering something under his breath to the man next to him.

The man standing beside him was a rather tall, mysterious fellow. He had very fair colored skin, dark bushy brown hair, and his eyes remained hidden behind a set of dark, circular sunglasses. The Konoha headband was tied around his head with black cloth, but it was hard to seem thanks to the fact that the hood of his dark green jacket was pulled up and almost completely covered his face. He also wore a set of dark colored pants tied off at the ankles with a set of bandages, and he had a gray satchel on his back. Curiously enough, there was also a series of insects crawling all over his body, but he did not seem at all concerned by them. The fact that he didn't care about the bugs made Hinata realize that he had to be a member of the famous Aburame clan, a clan that was devoted to using insects as a way to fight, and even hosted the hives of the bugs inside their own bodies. He was watching the conversation commence with his arms crossed and his brow raised, but otherwise had no other outer emotions displayed. He appeared to be of the stoic sort.

Hinata immediately recognized the one who had been to the man that was boasting about his tattoo, even though she had never personally met him. Judging by the purple face paint applied to his face, his black jumpsuit, the large set of scrolls attached to his back, and the black cat-like hood on his head, upon which was attached a forehead protector emblazoned with the Suna symbol of an hourglass, he had to be the second son of the Kazekage, Kankuro. Hinata actually was surprised to see him here. She knew he and his younger brother were ninjas, but she thought that, being the children of the Kazekage, he and his brother would remain in the Imperial City, safe from harm, or at least man the walls of the city instead of be on the front lines. If he was here, did that mean that his younger brother Gaara was here, too? Despite being younger than Kankuro, Gaara was supposed to be even stronger. Hinata didn't see him in the nearby vicinity, but that didn't mean for certain that he wasn't here. But then again, why would Gaara be here? The draft demanded that only one man from every family had to come and fight. Did Kankuro come in his brother's place simply because he was the eldest? In a strange way, it would make sense if he had.

Kankuro threw the Akimichi and the Aburame a rather sneaky grin, and then, without warning, he punched the boastful ninja solidly in the stomach. The ninja groaned as he fell hard to the ground with a loud 'oof!' The Akimichi nearly choked on his chips as he burst out laughing, and even the Aburame smirked a bit in obvious amusement.

"The logistics of the existence of a tattooed seal that would prevent any type of harm to the wearer is quite improbable. I do hope you can get your money back," the Aburame said matter-of-factly after the retreating, humiliated ninja.

Hinata blinked, not even sure what to make of what she had just witnessed. The only thing she knew for certain was that there was no way in a million years that she would ever be comfortable with laughing like that at someone else's pain, or with punching someone in such a painful way.

"I… I d-don't know if I can d-do this…" she whispered to Kurama, her eyes still trained on the three shinobi.

Kurama groaned. This woman's lack of self-confidence was driving him mad! "It's all attitude! Have some confidence! Be tough, like that guy there!"

He pointed one of his orange furry tails in Kankuro's direction. The said Sunaese warrior seemed to sense Hinata's gaze, and turned to look at her. The two other Konoha ninjas also turned to see who he was staring at, and looked directly at Hinata.

Kankuro raised a brow. "What are you staring at?" he demanded.

Hinata jumped. "N-Nothing! Sorry…"

She tried to turn and continue on her way to the drafting tent, but the Aburame quickly spoke up.

"You're eyes… You are a Hyuuga, are you not?"

Hinata froze. She really didn't want to be insulted again like that guy Kiba had done, but she also didn't want to seem rude. She slowly turned back around to face the three of them, and nodded.

"Yes, I… I am f-from the Hyuuga clan…"

"Is that so?" said the Akimichi boy, tossing a few more chips in his mouth as he sized her up. "You're not Neji, though. I met Neji before on a mission. I was looking forward to seeing him again. How come he didn't come?"

"Uh… Well, h-he recently got married… I was s-sent instead…"

Kankuro snickered. "The Hyuuga Prodigy would rather stay at home with the missus, huh? That's rich! He prefers to play house rather than fight for his country!"

He bent over and had to hold his own stomach as loud guffaws shook his body. Hinata's hand curled up into tight fists. She was enraged at how he was talking about her dear cousin. Neji was an outstanding ninja and would have happily been here if her father had allowed it! How dare this man, the son of the Kazekage or not, speak of him in such a way! She wanted to yell at him for saying such a disrespectful thing about her cousin, but she couldn't find the words to express what she felt. She just glared coldly at the ninja from the Land of Winds.

"Kankuro, that is enough. You are clearly offending him and disrespecting his fellow clansmen," said the Aburame.

"Aw, come on! You Aburame's are so uptight! You have to admit that a man hiding behind his woman has no form of self-respect!" Kankuro snorted, still chuckling a bit as he wiped a series of tears away from his eyes that had gathered due to how hard he had laughed.

"Still, you don't have to be rude," said the Akimichi. He then turned to look at Hinata directly. "I'm Choji, by the way. You've already met Kankuro, and this is Shino."

Hinata nodded. "N-Nice to meet you…"

"Hey, you guys already met the Hyuuga horse-lover!"

The group turned to see Lee and Kiba, who was riding Akamaru, approaching them. Shino, Choji, and Kankuro all greeted the two new-comers with polite smile and nods, but Hinata fought the urge to cringe. She didn't particularly mind Lee, but she was somewhat wary of Kiba. She hadn't forgotten about the degrading things he'd said to her before about her clan.

"Hey, Lee! Hey, Kiba!" greeted Choji pleasantly as Kiba hopped down from his dog's back and moved to stand beside his bushy-browed friend.

"It appears that you have all met our new youthful acquaintance! He is rather interesting, is he not?" said Lee with much enthusiasm.

"If by interesting, you mean he's the replacement for the so-called Hyuuga genius, then sure, he's interesting. You have to wonder what that Neji is doing right at this minute instead of being here in this shrimp's place. Probably sipping tea next to his sweetheart!" Kankuro said rather rudely.

Hinata was growing more offended by the minute. She didn't wish to spend any more time with these men who were speaking so rudely about her cousin. She turned around and tried to walk away, but a large hand suddenly clamped down on her shoulder, preventing her from going more than a few steps.

"Yo! Where do you think you're going?!" Kiba barked.

Hinata fought to not stutter at all with her next sentence. "I do not appreciate how you are speaking about my cousin or… or my clan. Please l-let me go."

Kiba only snorted. "You sound like some kind of pansy! 'Oh! Please l-let me go!'" he mimicked mockingly. "Try not to stutter when you say something like that, Stutters."

"Release me!" Hinata snapped, jamming her elbow hard into Kiba's stomach.

Kiba hadn't been expecting this, and he groaned slightly as he released her shoulder and took a few steps back. The others blinked at the surprise attack. None of them had thought that the somewhat nervous and quiet Hyuuga had the guts to try and do something like that.

Hinata was doing her best to stay calm and not go completely wide-eyed at what she had done. She really shouldn't have done that. There was no way that this hot-headed Inuzuka boy would let her walk away now after doing that to him.

Sure enough, as soon as Kiba overcame his momentary surprise, he growled loudly, and then lunged forward to seize Hinata by the front collar of her flak jacket.

"I'm gonna hit you so hard, it'll make your ancestors dizzy! Hyuuga scum!" he snarled threateningly.

Akamaru growled and pawed the ground angrily beside his master.

Hinata fought the urge to start trembling. She hadn't been in the training camp a full half hour and already she had gotten on someone's bad side. What were the odds?! She truly was a failure as a Hyuuga. Any other member of her clan would have had the sense to brush aside such a comment, but she had to get angry, a rarity for her, and actually fight back slightly. She could only hope that she wouldn't end up with a broken nose once this man was done with her.

She braced herself for the inevitable onslaught of pain, but that was when Shino stepped in, and carefully pulled Kiba away from her.

"Leave him be, Kiba. You cannot blame the man for sticking up for his fellow clansmen, and he did ask you politely to release him before he resorted to physical means."

Kiba growled, but still nodded begrudgingly to the Aburame. Shino cautiously released his hold on the Inuzuka as he turned and glared at the young heiress.

"Consider this your lucky day… You're not even worth my time…"

Hinata stiffly nodded, and began to walk away, but then, Kiba muttered something low under his breath.

"White-eyed swine…"

As horrible as it was to have been called that, as she couldn't help what color her eyes were from being a Hyuuga, Hinata was willing to let that comment slide, but Kurama was not. He may not have had any love for Hinata herself or humans in general, but he would be damned if he let such a degrading insult aimed at the Hyuuga clan in general pass by without doing anything about it! He screamed loudly under the cover of Hinata's shirt.

"White-eyed swine?! Say that again, you filthy mutt!" he roared.

Hinata froze in complete horror. Thanks to Kurama's interference, all of them, in particular Kiba, would now think that she was the one who had said that, and what Kurama had just said was a direct insult in the highest degree. It was considered highly offensive if someone were to ever call a member of the Inuzuka clan a mutt. This had gone from bad to worse in a matter of three seconds.

Sure enough, Kiba's Inuzuka pride kicked in, and he once again snarled in a haze of rage as he completely swung Hinata all the way around. He reeled back his fist, intending to knock a few of the presumably arrogant Hyuuga's teeth out of his mouth to teach him some respect, but pure survival instinct kicked in for Hinata, and she instead ducked at the last second, causing the canine-like ninja to strike his friend Lee several times right in the face by accident.

Lee fell to the ground as Kiba blinked at what had just happened.

"Sorry, Dude!" he muttered quickly before turning around to look for where Hinata had managed to sneak away.

The Hyuuga heiress felt bad for Lee, but she wasn't about to let this one opportunity go to waste. She stayed low to the ground and tried to crawl away as fast as she could. Kiba spotted her though, and tried to seize hold of her ankle. Even Akamaru joined in, and ran forward with the intent of pinning her down so his master could hit her. Again, Hinata froze, but luck seemed to be on her side, because at that instant, Lee was back on his feet, and he looked raving mad.

" _You dare challenge the flames of youth?!"_

All heads immediately turned back to look at the green spandex-wearing ninja. A look of pure fighting spirit was spreading across his face, and he was bounding straight ahead at an almost unseen speed towards the very-much-now-scared Kiba.

"Take this!" Lee shouted, whamming his foot in a powerful kick directly at Kiba's head.

Kiba went flying through the air, and ended up crashing right into the bodies of both Choji and Kankuro, knocking both of them to the ground. As all three of them tried to stand back up, Lee continued moving forward, and tried to kick Kiba once again, but all three of them ducked at the very last second, and he instead barreled right into the unsuspecting form of Shino standing off to the side. Lee tried to immediately apologize to the silent bug user, but at that moment, Kiba, Choji, and Kankuro had regained their bearings, and were now pouncing on both Lee and Shino, who had yet to stand up and get out of the way.

"You're dead, you bushy eye brow freak!" shouted Kankuro.

"Time to serve some dinner!" Choji thundered.

The fighting was about to commence, but a loud buzzing sound suddenly resounded, and all heads immediately turned toward the unusually silent Shino. The Aburame had finally managed to stand back up again, and his many species of insects were crawling out of the pores of his body, and swarming around him as they buzzed angrily, sensing the rage of their host.

"You all made a mistake when you involved me in this pointless squabble," Shino snarled, and the bugs surrounding him seemed to hum in obvious agreement. "Now you all shall witness the mighty power of my bugs!"

And then he, too, joined the throng of the fighting ninjas. There was a loud bark from Akamaru, and then even he joined the fight with the sole intent of assisting his wonderful master.

For a long moment, Hinata just stood there as she watched the five ninjas brawl pointlessly amongst one another. She was more than a little bit stunned by the suddenness of the fight. While the entire brawl was all Kurama's fault to begin with for speaking up when he should have stayed quiet, the one who was supposed to be currently being pummeled by Kiba was her right now. She was amazed how easy it had been to get the others to start fighting against each other like this, even though all she did was duck out of the way of one attack. Still though, she wasn't going to stick around and wait for one of them to regain their senses long enough to realize that she was still unharmed. Now was as good a time as any to carefully slip away without a trace.

She hurried back to her feet, and began running away in the first direction she saw. Forget the drafting tent. If she managed to get away from this brawl without a scratch on her, she would be forever grateful. Unfortunately, her departure did not go unnoticed by one of the others.

"Hey, he's getting away!" shouted Choji suddenly, pointing sharply in Hinata's direction.

The minor fight amongst the four Konoha ninjas and the one Suna ninja abruptly stopped as they all turned to look at the frozen-in-place Hinata, who had been caught red-handed in her act of running away from the fight.

Hinata remained still for another half a second, but then snapped back to her senses when she saw the five of them start charging after her, and broke out running again towards the nearest tent. How had she ended up in this mess anyway? All she'd wanted was to find out where the stables were and then go quietly to the drafting tent! She had planned to keep a rather low profile in the training camp, but instead, she was now on the run from five very angry ninjas!

As she entered the tent, she slipped off to the side beside the tent flap, and stayed hidden behind a pole, praying to every god and spirit she knew of that the five would just run right past her in their rush and run out the opposite end of the tent. Thankfully, her prayers were answered. All five angry men barreled straight past her in their rush and ran right through the tent flaps at the opposite end of the tent. Hinata started to let out a deep breath of relief that she had managed to get away without being injured in any way, but a series of loud crashing and smashing sounds resounded from somewhere outside. She gasped in worry. What had happened?!

She hurried to the opposite entrance to the tent and ran outside, only to gasp at what she saw. It appeared that there had been a long line of men waiting to be served lunch from a ninja in charge of pouring them soup and passing out bowls of plain white rice, and when Kiba, Lee, Choji, Kankuro, and Shino ran out, they hadn't been able to stop themselves in time from crashing into the last man in line, and when that men fell over, it had created a domino-like effect all the way down the line until the ninja currently being served the soup had fallen straight over and smashed his way into the large cooking pot and the cook himself, and the soup and rice went flying everywhere.

For a long moment, Hinata just stood there in complete shock. The whole mess had been a series of unfortunate accidents, but it was unlikely that anyone would take her side at this point, as in addition to the five who had been chasing her before, every man in line was slowly standing back up and turning around to see who had done this to them, and when they caught sight of her, the only 'man' there who was still standing and was not covered in head to toe in scratches, grass stains, or either soup or rice, it was all but obvious who they were about to blame for this. Every man's face slowly morphed into an ugly scowl as they began to close in on the shy, flustered Hyuuga heiress.

Hinata gulped, and slowly backed away.

"H-Hey, guys…"

* * *

At that moment, in the main strategy tent on the training camp grounds, an official meeting was currently going on between the main General of the Allied Shinobi Forces, his top Commanders, the Hokage's personal advisor, the leading Strategy Tactician, and the three ninjas who were to be left in charge of training the new recruits. All eight heads were currently pouring over large sets of maps and discussing different strategies and options that could be used during this possibly long war with the Sound. The entire tent was much larger than any of the other tents in the camp, but as this was for a strategy meeting between many different people, a larger tent had to be used to contain them all. Once the meeting was over, it would be taken back down again.

General Minato Namikaze pointed at a series of villages in the cover of a mountain right near the border of the Land of Earth. "We've received word that the Sound Army has struck each one of these villages," he declared. "We need to cut them off before they reach this particular mountain pass."

He pointed at a large opening in one of the mountains that was a shortcut to the Land of Iron, one of the coldest regions in the new Japan, but beyond it was a direct path straight to the Imperial City.

"Is it correct to assume that you'll be splitting the forces in half then, General Minato?"

"That is correct, Itachi. I'll be leading the main troops up to the Land of Iron, and you and Jiraiya will accompany me. We will stop Orochimaru before he destroys this village right over here."

The dark haired man in his early twenties with black onyx eyes nodded solemnly in reply. As the heir to the prestigious Uchiha clan, Itachi had been a ninja for many years now, and it was finally his time to bring great honor for his clan. His only regret was that following the General into the wilderness meant he had to go and leave his younger brother here behind in the camp. Granted, it was definitely safer here than it was on the front lines, but his little brother would have to depart for the front lines eventually, and when he did, he wouldn't be able to protect him. As the big brother, it was Itachi's duty to look after and protect his only younger sibling. Sadly though, duty was calling him away.

Speaking of his brother, he was currently standing beside him and glancing down at the map in front of them with his arms folded across his chest and nodding silently. The eighteen year old second born son, Sasuke Uchiha, was all but Itachi's miniature clone in terms of appearance with the only exception being that his jet black hair tended to spike up at the back. He was generally considered to be a very stoic individual, but right now his coal black eyes were openly glaring at the spots on the map where the known attacks Orochimaru had committed against innocent villages had been marked down. He didn't have his Konoha forehead protector on, and wore a white long-sleeved shirt that exposed most of his torso and on the back collar was a small emblem of the Uchiha clan crest of a red and white fan. He also wore a set of black arm guards that protected his forearms, navy blue pants, shinobi sandals, a dark purple rope belt around his waist, and at his hip was the sheath for his silver katana. There was actually a big debate over which of the Uchiha brothers was really stronger. Itachi was a natural prodigy, having been a fully fledged shinobi ever since he was a young boy, but rumors circulating around stated that despite taking longer to become a ninja than his older brother, Sasuke was not to be taken lightly if engaged one-on-one in battle. It was actually because he was so talented that he had been chosen to be one of the trainers for the new recruits in the army. That being said, the two brothers were still very close, and although they both appeared to be stoic and expressionless on the outside, on the inside, Itachi and Sasuke were actually very sad that they would be separated like this during the beginning of the war.

Ebisu, the Hokage's advisor, then chimed in. The Hokage had sent him to the training camp to monitor the progress of the new recruits for the Allied Shinobi Forces, but it hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours since his arrival at the camp, and he'd already succeeded in annoying all the men in the tent to no extent. "Excellent strategy, sir! The Sound will never suspect you're there!"

He started to chuckle, but upon catching a glimpse of the annoyed looks from the others in the tent at his interruption, he simply adjusted his dark sunglasses and bowed his head meekly in a silent apology for disrupting the meeting.

Jiraiya snorted after a long moment. "Well, Sound Ninjas aside, I'm looking forward to this journey to the Land of Iron. I haven't been there for quite some time. If we stay there long enough, I may have time to do some research for my next book… In the women's hot springs, that is… I may even finish writing it if I'm lucky!"

"Oh, be sure to save me a copy when you're done," Kakashi added, smiling slightly behind his face mask. "And do you think you could maybe personally autograph it for me?"

"Certainly! Only the best for my number one fan, after all!"

Ebisu immediately looked annoyed. "Such vulgarity! How dare you both speak of the female body in such a way! And don't you two think you should be focusing on this discussion?! Orochimaru has invaded the country! There's no time to be thinking about such crude things!"

"Oh, lay off it, Ebisu! Don't act as though you didn't pack your own private collection of my book series to bring with you here!"

"L-Lies! I would never bring myself to so much as _touch_ a single one of your perverted novels!"

"That is the real lie. I've caught my brother on numerous occasions conversing with you about plot details in that book series," a man with bright red hair said monotonously.

Ebisu looked mortified by the younger man's words, but Jiraiya was grinning from ear to ear at the speaker.

"Oh? You're older brother is a fan of my work, Gaara? Maybe I should sign a copy for him before I leave later today. Would you like a copy as well, maybe?"

"No, thank you. I have no interest whatsoever in reading such obscene material."

The youngest son of the Kazekage kept a stoic expression on his face as he stared back at the lecherous pervert. Despite being his father's third born child, Gaara was a superior ninja to his older brother and had a much better mindset for both strategy and politics. It was no secret that he, Kankuro, and their older sister Temari hated their father, but they couldn't deny the fact that they all received certain privileges that they otherwise would never have received if Rasa was not the Kazekage. In fact, it was all but preordained that Gaara would be the next leader of the Land of Winds after his father either stepped down from his post or passed away, but before he could take over the position, he had to serve his time as a ninja for the Allied Shinobi Forces. Rasa, however, had pulled some strings and had arranged for his youngest son to help train the recruits in the ninja forces along with Sasuke and one other ninja before heading out to the front lines. It was quite the honor to be given such an important position, especially considering his young age. He would have to give a hundred percent effort to impress both his father and the General if he wanted the Kazekage hat.

There was a sudden loud yawn from off to the side, and heads immediately turned to look over at the leading military tactician. He was very young considering he was one of the leading strategists in the war effort; seventeen, to be exact, but that wasn't what made people second guess themselves when they considered the fact that he had been named the head of the strategy department. It was the fact that Shikamaru Nara was potentially the laziest man in the entire country of Japan. Despite being the heir to the prestigious Nara clan with special bloodline abilities that involved fighting with his shadow and despite being a genius with an I.Q. of over two hundred, the young man hated to do anything that required effort. He wore the traditional green flak jacket with the metal plate of his Konoha forehead protector sewn into the left sleeve, chainmail armor, dark pants, shinobi footwear, and he had stud earrings in both his ears. His dark hair was currently tied back in a spiky ponytail, and his dark brown eyes were currently shut as he propped his cheek with his hand. He seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep. Other than playing rounds of his favorite board game shogi and spending hours cloud watching, napping was his all-time favorite hobby.

The lazy man wearily opened one of his eyes, and gave a half-hearted glare at the others around him.

"Tch, this whole meeting is so troublesome. I only agreed to come because I thought you all wanted my input. If you're all just gonna make stupid small talk I might as well take a nap…"

Sasuke shut his eyes and solemnly nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Nearly half of this entire meeting has been all but pointless," he added.

Minato paused for a moment before nodding at their words. "They're both right. Let's get back on topic. I'd like to hear some ideas on what should be done. Any ideas, Naruto?"

Minato smiled as he turned to look at the only member left in the tent who had yet to speak. It was his eighteen year old son, who was his spitting image in every single way. Just like his father, Naruto had inherited his spiky blonde hair that stuck up in every direction, and his eyes were a bright shade of blue. The only real physical difference between them was that on both of the boys' cheeks were a set of scars that almost seemed to resemble that of whisker-like marks, a result of a training accident with sets of flying shuriken back when he was younger. He wore a formfitting orange jumpsuit with black sleeves and chainmail armor underneath, the Land of Fire headband tied off with black cloth around his head, and a set of brown ninja sandals. While his only son and heir looked exactly like him, Minato knew firsthand that Naruto was nothing at all like him in terms of personality. In that department, he took more after his mother. He was a boisterous and energetic boy, and was considered highly unorthodox in how he acted in his ninja duties. He actually had a nickname for being the Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja, as he would tend to pull off completely unpredictable moves when fighting against enemies. There were many people who didn't like him because of his loudmouth personality, not to mention all the additional reasons that were included because of everything happening right now with his mother, Kushina, but despite his personal flaws, Minato knew that he would not change one thing about his son. Naruto was Naruto, his only child and the future leader of the Namikaze clan, not to mention the possible future Hokage of the Land of Fire if he managed to fulfill his lifelong dream, and he couldn't be more proud of him.

Naruto was looking down at the map in front of him as he bit his lower lip. Strategy was not his strongest point, but Minato had been carefully instructing his son in makeshift ninja scenarios for some time now. Not that he had been expecting Orochimaru and his Sound Army to invade so abruptly, but he believed that Naruto should receive lessons in strategy on the off-chance that something like this current war should happen. This was his final test to see if he was indeed ready for the army ranking he wished to bestow on him. If he failed, he would have no choice but to give the ranking to either Sasuke or Gaara and leave his son as a simple subordinate.

After a while, Naruto finally looked up again.

"You said before that the Sound bastards are moving through the Land of Earth to get to the Land of Iron, right, Dad?"

Minato nodded, but Ebisu was pursing his lips at the blonde boy's choice of words.

"Well, we all know that the Land of Earth has some of the rockiest mountains in the country! How many explosive tags are you taking with you?"

Minato blinked, not expecting that abrupt question. "Several thousands, naturally. Why?"

"You should have the men set them up all over one of the passes! Collapse the major parts of the cliff so that the Sound can't travel through! Do it to most of the nearby mountain passages, too, come to think of it. Force them all to travel through this mountain pass over… here!" he pointed sharply at a region far off to the side of the Land of Earth, still close to the Land of Iron, but it would make for a longer march from the Land of Iron to the Imperial City. "Make them go out of their way just to get over the mountain, and when they finally show up — BAM! Hit 'em all with a sneak attack!"

Minato couldn't suppress the impressed look spreading quickly across his face. Not only had his son passed his test, he had gone above and beyond his expectations. "That's a good idea. I hadn't thought of that."

"You'll do it then, Dad?"

"'Course I will. It's a smart plan. Good work, Naruto."

As Naruto grinned from ear to ear at his father's praise, Shikamaru finally took another look at the map and chimed in his two cents worth.

"It'd probably also be a smart move to have the troops chop down trees and leave the trunks and remains scattered all through the pass. It won't halt them, but if any of them are riding horses, they'll have to abandon them there just to continue."

Minato nodded. "That would definitely slow them down. We'll do just that."

"Are you sure you want me to stay behind, Dad?" Naruto suddenly asked. "I'm sure I could help you give Orochimaru and his thugs a good run for his money!" He flashed a grin and gave him a thumbs up.

Minato laughed, and reached into the weapons pouch attached to his leg, and pulled out one of his special, tri-pronged kunai.

"No, Naruto. You, Sasuke, and Gaara are to stay behind and train the new recruits, as will Shikamaru, while he continues to plan out the war strategies. When Kakashi and Ebisu believe the men out there are ready, you will join us—" he set the kunai down into Naruto's hand. "—Captain."

Gaara, Sasuke, and Shikamaru immediately looked over at Naruto. For once, the hyperactive boy seemed to be at a total loss for words. He simply stared at the special kunai in his hand in complete disbelief.

"Me…? Captain…?" he gasped in amazement.

Rare smiles momentarily flitted across Gaara and Sasuke's faces upon learning of the ranking that had been appointed to their friend.

Shikamaru was grinning a bit. Naruto could generally be considered an idiot in basic common sense, but when it came to ninjas and warfare, he was top class. He deserved this.

Jiraiya and Kakashi both beamed. They were proud of their former student. He would be an excellent teacher to the new recruits.

Itachi nodded. He didn't know Naruto as well as Sasuke did, but he was a good ninja. He would be a fine leader.

In the entire tent, Ebisu was the only one there that looked mortified by Minato's declaration.

"General Minato! This is an enormous responsibility! Are you quite certain that your son can handle it? I would have thought that you would leave Kakashi in charge!"

Minato only smiled at the small protest. "He is one of the strongest ninja of his generation in all of the Imperial City, and he is a good teacher whenever he offers to help train the boys at the Ninja Academy."

"I learned from the best, after all!" Naruto agreed with a smile. "With Kakashi-sensei's help, Pervy Sage's teaching—"

"I told you before not to call me that in public!" Jiraiya interrupted.

"—and learning from you, Dad, I think I'm an A-OK ninja!"

"You are far more than just 'okay' Naruto," Minato disagreed. "You are my son, and that makes you an excellent shinobi. I believe you will do a fine job."

"I will, Dad! I won't let you down! I promise!" said Naruto excitedly.

Minato smiled, and then looked over at Sasuke and Gaara.

"As for you two, I'm appointing both of you as Naruto's Co-Captain's, so you'll both be helping out with training the men, too. While I have every belief in my son that he will do an excellent job, I also expect the two of you to keep him out of trouble."

Gaara and Sasuke both nodded solemnly at the General's words, but Naruto just awkwardly chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, clearly embarrassed.

"Yes, Sir," they said together.

"Good. Then I think we can adjourn for now."

All heads nodded, and everyone immediately dispersed as they began cleaning up all the maps. Now that the meeting was over, Minato, Jiraiya, and Itachi would be leaving immediately with the main troops to the front lines. Sasuke promptly stepped to the side to bid his older brother farewell in private as Naruto moved to speak with his father and Jiraiya.

"I'm going to miss you, Dad. It won't be the same here in camp without you," Naruto sighed, looking uncharacteristically sad for once.

"Yes, it will definitely be different at the front lines without you there, Naruto," Minato agreed. Then a frown spread across his face. "This could be goodbye, you know," he reminded his son.

At those words, Naruto immediately perked back up. "What?! No way! There's no way in hell that could be true! You're the future Fourth Hokage, Dad! You're gonna takeover for the old man! And once he's done, that means I'm one step closer to being Hokage! I'm going to be your successor as the future Fifth Hokage! Plus, I know mom would never forgive you if she heard you talking like that!"

His words earned an honest laugh from his father. "You're absolutely right in that department, Son. She'd probably have a field day…"

"What? Am I not going to be missed at all by my godson?" said Jiraiya suddenly in a playful tone. "My young apprentice doesn't have any kind parting words at all?"

Naruto almost immediately rolled his eyes. "If missing you means I'll miss having to pay bail to get you out of prison since you were caught peeping on girls at bath houses, then sure, I'll miss you…" he muttered dryly.

"Oh, come now! You're a man now, Naruto! Surely you've come to appreciate the beauty in the form of the female body. What with their luscious curves and—"

"Too much information, Pervy Sage!"

"That's mighty big talk coming from the boy who is the inventor of the single greatest jutsu of all time!"

"Oh, come off it! I made up the Sexy Jutsu back when I twelve! I've grown up since then!"

Jiraiya visibly pouted. "Man, you're no fun at all, Brat! You're still too caught up on that girl you met back when you were a kid, aren't you?"

Almost immediately, Naruto's face turned bright red. "W-W-What?! D-Don't be ridiculous! I-I-I… I barely even remember that girl! Cut it out with your crazy stories, Pervy Sage! Keep those ideas for your stupid book series!"

Jiraiya burst out laughing at how flustered his godson had just become, and even Minato cracked a smile. Naruto just scowled at them both. It was a long term joke between the three of them that the heir to the Namikaze clan was in love with a girl he barely even remembered and didn't even know the name to. A girl he had only met once back when he was a child. Naruto would often get annoyed whenever either of them brought it up and would then sometimes mutter lowly under his breath that he regretted ever telling them about the girl in the first place.

"Well, Son, if you do manage to find that girl again, just be sure to grin at her. No woman can resist the Namikaze grin. That's how I won over your mother, after all!"

"S-Shut up, Dad!" Naruto snapped as a red tinge stained his cheeks.

Jiraiya fished for something in the inner pockets of his green haori, and pulled out a copy of the first book in his series of Icha Icha Paradise. He slapped the book down in his godson's free hand.

"Here, Kid. Read it and see how to please your woman once you find her. I think you'll especially like chapter three, that's the chapter where the two main characters—"

He was cut off by being forced to duck when the book was suddenly thrown right at his head.

"I wouldn't be caught dead reading this perverted crap!"

Jiraiya looked horrified by what Naruto had called his book, and promptly scooped the paperback novel off the ground and held it protectively to his chest. "Perverted crap?! This book is a literary masterpiece! A work of art!"

"Dirty old man…" Naruto scoffed.

Minato merely laughed at the amusing display. "You two seem to be as lively as ever. I'm looking forward to when we all drink a toast to Japan's victory at the Imperial City this time in a few months."

"I'll wager this war will be done in three months, what with you as the leading General," Jiraiya grinned.

"Three months?! Try three weeks! With you leading the Allied Shinobi Forces, Dad, this war will be over before it even begins!" Naruto said jubilantly.

Minato chuckled as he patted his son's shoulder. "Let's hope so, Son. Gods and spirits only know that your mother will probably go riding off to the heart of the battle on the front lines herself if we're away too long."

"Yeah, that definitely sounds like mom!"

Minato squeezed his shoulder affectionately, and then motioned for Jiraiya and Itachi to follow him out of the tent first so they could all leave the campgrounds with the main troops, and Kakashi was right at their heels. Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru all followed, but as Minato prepared to exit out the tent flaps, he stopped and turned to look over at Ebisu.

"I'll expect a full report in three weeks," he said before leaving the tent with the other adult men.

As soon as the other older ninjas were gone, Ebisu smirked knowingly as he glanced over his shoulder directly at Naruto.

"You better be on your toes, because I don't intend to leave anything out of that report. Don't think just because your father's the General you'll get a free ride through your ninja duties, _Captain Uzumaki."_

And with that, Ebisu swept out of the tent without another word.

For a long moment, the teens in the tent were absolutely silent as they absorbed the intended insult to the new ninja Captain. Then three sets of heads all turned at once toward the said leader. Naruto's jaw was completely rigid as he struggled to stay completely emotionless, but his fists were clenched up into tight balls. Unlike Sasuke and Gaara who were experts at hiding their real emotions over ninety percent of the time, or Shikamaru who could easily brush aside such rude comments, Naruto wore his heart on his sleeve. He wanted to yell, scream, cry, or even punch something… and it was all because of what the stupid Closet Pervert had called him.

"Troublesome man…" Shikamaru suddenly muttered. His tone seemed bored, but he was glaring coldly in the direction of the tent flap.

"Hn. Ignore him, Naruto. He's not worth it," Sasuke agreed with a small nod.

"He is just being a nuisance. Pay no attention to his words," Gaara added.

With the support of his friends, Naruto forced a smile on his face.

"Yeah, you guys are right. Why should I listen to what a Closet Pervert says, anyway?"

Sasuke and Gaara both smirked, and Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"I swear, sometimes I think you have a split personality," he muttered.

Naruto grinned at the comment, and then glanced down at his father's tri-pronged kunai in his hand before carefully tucking it away into the weapons pouch on his leg.

"Captain Naruto Namikaze, Co-Captain's Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara Sabaku, and Leading Tactician Shikamaru Nara! The leaders of Japan's finest ninjas — No! The greatest ninjas of all time!" he declared excitedly.

And with those final words, Naruto pushed open the tent flap and led the way outside, only to go completely still with shock when he saw what was happening directly outside the tent.

Every single ninja recruit seemed to be engaged in an all out camp-wide brawl as they punched, kicked, and threw food at one another. None of them seemed to realize that the head General, the leading Commanders, the newly minted Captain and Co-Captains, the Hokage's advisor, or the leading Strategist had just exited the tent and were now watching all of them. They just continued to fight with one another with the sole intent of bloodying up the face of their current opponent. Somewhere in the midst of the playground scuffle, the army leaders could hear what sounded like a chicken clucking in fear. It seemed as though the fight had caused someone to accidentally break open the chicken coop.

All in all, everything looked like a huge mess.

"Most impressive," Ebisu muttered disdainfully.

Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru all immediately turned to look at Naruto, but Naruto's face looked to be a mixture of being both shocked and completely overwhelmed. As the new Captain of the Allied Shinobi Forces, it was his duty to take care of squabbles amongst the troops like this, but at that exact moment, he didn't have the slightest clue what to do. In fact, if this entire fight had taken place sometime three years ago, Naruto was actually pretty sure that he probably would have been one of the instigators of the entire fight. What the hell was he supposed to do?

Minato clapped his hand down on his shoulder, and Naruto's head snapped up to see his father's smiling face.

"I have complete confidence in you, Son. I know you will make me proud," he said kindly.

Naruto gulped, but then nodded confidently. His father was counting on him, so there was no way he would let him down!

"Thanks, Dad."

Minato smiled, and then with a quick wave of his hand, he motioned for Jiraiya and Itachi to follow him toward where the saddled horses were standing ready and waiting for them so they could finally depart with the main troops to the front lines.

Jiraiya followed him right away, pausing only long enough to pat Naruto's shoulder as he walked past and smile encouragingly at him, but Itachi lingered back for a moment so as to poke Sasuke in the forehead in an affectionate way.

"Take care of yourself, little brother," Itachi told Sasuke.

"You as well, Itachi," Sasuke said solemnly to his elder sibling.

Itachi smiled briefly, and then joined the other men in mounting his own noble steed.

Minato smiled warmly to his son. "Good luck, Captain!" he called out, and then with a kick of his heels on the horse's sides, the stallion took off, leaving Jiraiya and Itachi no choice but to urge their own horses forward and follow him.

Upon seeing the General leading the main forces out of the camp, the ninjas that had been waiting quickly began moving. Those with horses of their own quickly rode off after the General and the leading Commanders, but those that didn't hurried to gather their things and start running at top speed on foot in the way they had been trained for long distance, high speed travel, and quickly followed Minato out of the camp. Their next stop was the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Iron.

Naruto raised his hand and waved after his father and teacher until they were nothing more than brief specks in the distance. "Good luck, Dad, Pervy Sage…" he whispered to the wind. It wasn't until they were gone and he had completely lowered his hand that he turned his attention back to the fighting ninjas, and his panic set back in again.

Ebisu noticed the distress on the face of the new captain, and pulled out his pen as he prepared to start scribbling down how Naruto fared in handling the new recruits. "Day one…" he trailed off, looking over at the new Captain expectantly.

Naruto gulped. He hadn't the slightest clue what to do. Thankfully, Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Make a good first impression," he advised. "You're the leader. You're in charge. They need to know that right now."

"Sasuke's right," Gaara agreed. "Be tough with them."

"Man, this is all such a drag," Shikamaru grumbled. "But I have to agree. Don't let them walk all over you."

With the advice from his friends in his ears, Naruto nodded as determination spread quickly across his face. They were right, of course! He'd show these men just who was boss!

With confidence filling his steps, Naruto marched forward with Sasuke and Gaara at his heels and Shikamaru, Kakashi, and Ebisu trailing along a few steps behind them. He cupped his hands around his mouth, and then shouted out loudly in a commanding tone for the entire camp to hear: _"HEY!"_

Every fight in the camp came to an abrupt halt upon hearing the authority echoing in the command, and the entire campground immediately fell eerily silent. There was a long pause as all the men stared back at the disapproving face of Captain Naruto, then, all together, everyone took several steps backward and pointed down at a small man curled up in a ball on the ground with his eyes squeezed shut and his hands planted firmly over his ears.

"He started it!" everyone yelled all together.

It was the hunched up form of Hinata. When the fighting broke out all over camp, she hadn't been able to get away from all of it, as everyone was aware of the fact that she was the one who had presumably knocked everyone together in the food line. After miraculously being able to dodge the next few punches thrown at her face by angry ninja recruits, she had elected to stay curled up on the ground for as long as possible and simply wait it out to the end of the fight when everyone would calm down. So long as she stayed still and didn't cause any further problems in the fight, she saw no reason as to why anyone else would want to hit her. What she hadn't been counting on was for everyone to dump the blame on her for the whole mess when the commanding officers arrived to break apart the ruckus.

With a dry mouth and trembling fingers, Hinata slowly opened her eyes and moved her hands away from her ears. All in all, everything seemed far too silent to the frightened heiress. Just listening to her own nervous breathing seemed far too loud to her ears. She couldn't remember the last time she'd ever been so nervous. She heard the sound of footsteps approaching her tiny curled up body, and quickly looked up a bit to see a pair of ninja sandals walking directly toward her and come to a stop right beside her body.

She was definitely in big trouble.

With a shaky, terrified breath, Hinata forced herself to stand, hastily wipe the grass stains and bits of rice off her clothes, and look the commanding officer right in the eye, only to go completely rigid with intense shock once she got a good look at him.

The man standing in front of her was about the same age as her, and he had spiky blonde hair, and the bluest set of eyes she had ever seen. He looked so much like the little boy who had given her his scarf back when she was a little girl. The only real difference she could see from that boy was that this young man had whisker-like scars on his face, and the boy she had met when she was a child definitely had been scar-free. It was so unbelievable how much this young man reminded Hinata of her first love.

She had no time to dwell on these thoughts, however, because Naruto was immediately fixing her with a piercing look.

"So, you're the troublemaker, huh?" he asked.

Hinata squeaked in utter fear. She was absolutely terrified of what could possibly happen next.

When the men behind her heard her small 'eep,' many of them started to quietly chuckle. They had already figured out on their own that the Hyuuga recruit was a quiet, nervous fellow, but they hadn't realized that he a coward, too!

Naruto shot a quick glare in the direction of the men chuckling, and there was instant silence. Then he turned his attention back to Hinata.

"I'm sure you must think it is fun to start a brawl, but save it for the front lines! We're going to be fighting in an all-out war soon, Recruit!"

Hinata found her entire body shaking as she forced her head to slowly nod.

"Y-Yes sir… I… I'm t-terribly sorry…" she softly whimpered out.

More chuckles and snickers spread across the onlookers like wildfire. Hinata felt her face turn bright red. She was becoming extremely embarrassed. Why oh why could she not speak to anyone at all without stuttering?!

Naruto blinked a bit in slight confusion. He knew he was putting up a harsh pretense so that all the men knew that he was undoubtedly their superior, but he didn't think he was acting so harshly that he could potentially cause the man standing in front of him to possibly start crying in complete fear. Plus, there was something about this man that seemed very familiar to him, but he couldn't place what it was. He knew based on this recruit's eyes that he was a Hyuuga, but Naruto had not personally met a member of the Hyuuga clan in many years. Not since he was a little boy.

"What's your name?" he abruptly asked.

Hinata's blood went cold at the sudden question, and from underneath her shirt, she could feel Kurama stiffen up, too.

"My n-name?" she stammered.

"Yeah. Judging by your eyes, you're from the Hyuuga clan, right? What's your name?"

"Uh…"

She didn't respond to the simple question, because she had no real answer. Of all the hasty preparations she had made to ensure she could successfully pass as a boy, she had forgotten about one very simple, but still excruciatingly important detail: her fake name to present to the other men in the camp.

Ebisu didn't like the lengthy pause Hinata was making in answering the rather simple question, and quickly stepped forward, and Kakashi, Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru were right on his heels.

"Your commanding officer just asked you a question!" the advisor snapped at the frightened 'boy.'

His words only served to terrify the young woman even more. "I… I have a name! It's… well…"

Hinata paused to think. She had to choose something easy for her to remember, but that would still be familiar enough to make her turn her head if someone were to call out to her out of the blue. She couldn't just use Neji's name. That boy Choji had already admitted he'd personally met her cousin in the past, so there was no way she could masquerade as her cousin. Plus, her cousin was well known already throughout most of the Land of Fire to be a superior ninja. She had only watched her cousin spar in the Gentle Fist stances. She never once trained alongside him. She couldn't pretend to be her cousin just because of that alone. Think! Her real name was Hinata. What could she tell these men that would be similar to her own real name?

Then the perfect name came to her.

"H-Hiro! It's… It's Hiro…" she quietly stuttered, mentally praying to every god and spirit she knew of that they would believe this additional, nervous lie.

Naruto raised a brow as the name settled in his mind for future reference. "Hiro?" he repeated.

Hinata nodded. "Y-Yes, my name is Hiro H-Hyuuga…" she reiterated, her nerves overflowing throughout her body.

Naruto nodded in acceptance to the quiet, nervous young man, but Ebisu couldn't help but be slightly suspicious of the Hyuuga descendant.

"Show us your crest and papers!" the advisor demanded.

Hinata jumped a bit at the demand, but quickly nodded as she hastily took out her drafting scroll and tore the pendant of the Hyuuga clan crest off her neck and handed them both over to Naruto.

Naruto accepted the scroll she gave him wordlessly as he unrolled the scroll. Kakashi, Shikamaru, Gaara, and Sasuke all stepped forward a bit to see the name written down on the paper. All six men were somewhat surprised when they read the name scribbled down.

"Hiashi Hyuuga? The head of the whole Hyuuga clan?" said Naruto in slight confusion, looking back and forth from the name on the scroll to the pendant of the Hyuuga crest that he was holding in his opposite hand, the living proof that 'Hiro' was Hiashi's heir to the entire main branch in the Hyuuga clan and not just some other Hyuuga relative he had sent instead of himself or even his nephew.

For once, even Ebisu seemed puzzled by what he had just read.

"I thought the head of the Hyuuga clan only had two daughters and a nephew named Neji," he stated skeptically.

Hinata felt herself sweat. Somehow, she had to convince these men that they were over thinking things and that they were wrong to be suspicious of her.

"W-Well… I'm not nearly as good a n-ninja as my cousin Neji, so… so my f-father doesn't talk about me much…" she said in her scruffy, male voice. "But… B-But Neji got married not too l-long ago, so I came instead…"

She awkwardly scratched the back of her head as her cheeks only brightened in color. Please let them believe her sad little lie!

As the young heiress trembled where she stood in utter fear that they might realize right then and there that she was actually a woman, Sasuke was sizing 'Hiro' up from top to bottom. Then he chimed in his two cents worth.

"It's no wonder why we don't know him. Probably never even became a ninja at all if he's this nervous all the time," he muttered.

Ebisu blinked as the rather obvious idea was thrown out in the open, and upon seeing Shikamaru and Gaara both nod in agreement to the statement and Kakashi shrug noncommittally, even he visibly relaxed.

Naruto nodded, and handed Hinata back the Hyuuga crest, but kept the conscription notice as proof that she had arrived. As Hinata threw the pendant back on around her neck, the blonde-haired Captain stepped around her so as to address all the ninjas in the camp together.

"All right, men! Consider tonight a lesson to all of you! You're punishment for lack of discipline is to pick up every single grain of rice, and you're all gonna fix everything that you broke! Tent poles, chopsticks, the chicken coop, you name it! You broke it, so you fix it!"

A collective groan filled the air from all the men as they realized that fixing everything that got broken and cleaning up the mess left behind from all the spilled food meant that they would be up for most likely half the night.

Naruto fought the urge to cringe. He didn't like being this harsh, but the men had to know that he was in charge. He decided to throw out one last line before leaving them to start cleaning up.

"The faster you all start working, the faster you get done! I'd advise you to get done sooner rather than later, too, because tomorrow, the real work begins!"

And with that, the new Captain marched off so as to pitch up his tent somewhere. Sasuke immediately followed after his childhood friend, but Gaara walked off to the side to start personally reprimanding his older brother for partaking in this childish brawl, and Shikamaru walked away at a leisurely pace to find his old friend Choji and help him with his chores. Helping to clean up this mess would for sure be very troublesome, but the sooner his old friend got done, the sooner he could invite him to go cloud watching. Ebisu, meanwhile, hurried off in the direction of his own tent so he could make a note of how the new Captain's introduction to the new ninja recruits went in his report to both General Minato and the Hokage, and Kakashi pulled a suspicious looking orange paperback book from his weapons pouch and flipped it open to where he had left off before, and he began to read while he walked away, a pink tinge slowly spreading across the visible areas of his face.

With all of them gone, that left the poor, flustered heiress as once again the object for everyone's hatred.

Hinata's cheeks felt like they were on fire as she snuck a peek at the ninjas around her age range that she had met earlier.

Kiba was actively glaring at her with venom in his eyes, and Akamaru looked as though he would happily bite her head off if his master ordered him to do so.

Kankuro, in between being told off by his younger brother who in retrospect was his superior officer, was throwing her dirty looks every few seconds whenever Gaara looked away from him.

Shino's face seemed emotionless, but judging by the way his insects were buzzing around his head in an angry fashion, he was definitely not pleased with the current events.

Choji was scowling at her out of the corner of his eye as he gazed back and forth between her quivering form, and the sight of a knocked over grill that before the fight had been cooking several slabs of sizzling meat.

Even the seemingly nice Lee was sneering at her as he moved to help some other men gather up several sets of broken cutlery that would need to be fixed as part of the punishment.

All in all, it was safe to say that there was no one in the entire camp that liked her anymore.

As Hinata cringed at the thought, Kurama poked his head out from underneath her shirt, and even Usagi's tiny head appeared from the pocket of her flak jacket and bleated sympathetically to what had happened. Kurama, however, at no such intentions of comforting the girl for getting herself into this mess.

"Foolish girl! You've made an enemy of everyone in camp!" he snapped at her.

Hinata winced at the harsh truth he spat at her. "I… I didn't m-mean to, Kurama…" she whimpered.

The nine-tailed fox sighed. Turning this misfit heiress into a celebrated war hero was definitely going to be the biggest challenge he had ever faced. When he finally looked back at Hinata, he looked as though he had aged at least ten years.

"We will definitely have to work on your people skills."


	4. The Training

**Man, I'm beat...**

 **It is nearly two in the morning where I live, and I am up this late so as to finish editing this chapter and post it here online so that all of you, my dear readers can enjoy it!**

 **To be honest, this chapter was a pain to write. So many original scenes happen in this, and I hated having to portray Hinata as unable to do anything right. We all know that at the end of Naruto she becomes quite powerful, but at the beginning of the series and at the beginning of the movie, she has to be portrayed as weak. This is all for character growth, I know, but I still hate having to make her seem so weak... There is one particularly scene that I had fun writing, though. The scene of Hinata's triumphant moment! You'll all know what I mean very soon! ;) Also, there's some minor NaruHina near the end of the chapter, so keep your eyes peeled for this great lovey dovey moment! The romance will really heat up come next chapter, but here's just a taste of the chemistry to get them interested in one another!**

 **I'd also like to note that this chapter is unbetaed, as I haven't been able to contact Silken Danser for several days now. I hope everything is okay for my friend!**

 **As always, let me thank all the people who were kind enough to review for Chapter Three:**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- Ramrikai**

 **\- Miss Rizz**

 **\- Kelvin King**

 **\- Guest (x2) (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- im the guest**

 **\- Kakua**

 **\- gio08**

 **\- NH SHIPPER**

 **\- ForeverTheValentine**

 **\- Katsuyurin**

 **\- BlueDragonz**

 **Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I hope you will continue to write nice things about this story in the review box down below! Don't forget, okay?**

 **I'd also like to say a special thank you to reviewers NH SHIPPER and Katsuyurin, who were both kind enough to send out their condolences for my little Cupid. Thank you very much for your kind words! They really helped!**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Please remember to review once you're done reading! Remember, everyone, reviews are what fuel my creative juices! If you want chapters to continue to come out on a weekly basis, review down below and encourage me to keep writing!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 5/11/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: The Training**

Soft sunlight streaked across the horizon as dawn broke out over the grassy green field, completely covered in a sea of hundreds of identical white tents. Each one of the simple white tents was tall, well built, all but weatherproof should the generally fine climate and weather turn horrible, and contained a male occupant.

Well, all except one that is.

On the far side of the field, there was a rather tiny lopsided tent that looked as though the owner hadn't set it up properly due to having never set up a tent before yesterday. It was pitched up beside a lone tree, and the only horse on the field used by the new recruits had been tied to it using the lower branches, and was peacefully grazing on the grass beside it. Any ninja who were to look just at the tent and horse alone would agree that the occupant of the ridiculous tent and owner of the horse most likely didn't belong here, at a ninja war camp.

And in a way, those ninjas would all be correct, because although none of them knew it, the person still fast asleep in this tent was the only woman on the field.

Hinata Hyuuga was sleeping peacefully in her little tent, curled up in a small ball as she cocooned herself in her only wool blanket in an effort to preserve her body heat. As she was alone for the time being, her breast bindings were currently off her chest and her long blue hair had been let down from its low ponytail and was currently fanning over her head and pillow, and she slept in only a small pair of shorts and one of her cousin Neji's oversized shirts. Dark shadows lined her eyes as the living proof that she had worked long and hard last night to help the rest of the men in camp fix all the things that had been broken yesterday during the fight. She hadn't gotten much sleep, so she was reveling in the joys of slumber now.

The tent itself was very small, so there wasn't much room for anything other than her own body inside, but the knapsack with the things she had brought with her was tucked away in one corner, and laying beside it was the pile of clothes she had worn the day before along with her green flak jacket, chainmail armor, and her shinobi sandals. Tiny Usagi had snuggled herself down into a spare bit of cloth over one of her shoes, and Kurama had curled up for the night in the pile of clothes the young heiress had discarded the night before. Both of the spirits had had a good night's rest in the little nests that Hinata had been kind enough to prepare for them the previous evening before falling asleep, but now, Kurama had seemingly decided that it was time to wake up, and that seemed to mean that _everyone_ had to wake up, too.

The orange fox with the numerous number of tails got to its feet as it emerged from its little nest of clothing, and curled backwards a bit as it stretched its body. With a slight yawn, it padded its way up toward the shy heiress's sleepy face, and then, quite loudly, shouted right into her ear.

"Wake up, Woman!"

A very feminine shriek escaped Hinata's lips as her pearlescent eyes snapped open, and she jolted straight up in slight fear. In all her years, not once had she ever woken up to someone yelling directly into her ear, and she was momentarily panicked until she heard her fox guardian suddenly start chuckling in amusement.

"Wow… I knew that would get you awake, but I didn't think you would scream," he muttered.

Hinata's face flushed red in embarrassment over her startled reaction to the wake-up call. "K-Kurama… that wasn't very n-nice…" she said rather shyly.

"Too bad. You're in a ninja camp now, Girl. This is a man's world. The word 'nice' doesn't exist here."

Hinata frowned at her guardian as she reached into her knapsack for an apple she had packed from home. Kurama was a fox, so as long as he stayed on the down low of other ninjas, he could hunt for his own food, and Usagi and Rin had all the grass they could possibly want to munch on, so it seemed as though everyone was set for breakfast.

As Hinata hurried to eat her meager little meal, Kurama continued to speak. "Listen up, Girl! You made a bad first impression yesterday, and you're already going to have to work twice as hard as everyone else during training since the training regimes are designed for men! So you better be on your toes today!" he ordered.

Hinata blushed as she swallowed the last bit of her apple. She threw the core off to the side as she turned around for a bit of privacy, and then lifted her shirt slightly so as to begin rewrapping the bandages around her breasts so as to flatten them down as much as possible once again.

"Y-Yes, Kurama. I know it won't b-be easy… but I'll t-try my best…" she said rather quietly.

"Don't try! Do!" he barked. "Trying means nothing! Doing something means results!"

"Stop that!" she snapped suddenly, her face contorting into a small, angry glare as she looked over her shoulder at the fox.

The small act of defiance surprised Kurama, and he was taken aback a bit. "Stop what?" he growled.

" _T-That!_ Yelling at m-me all the time!" she said somewhat harshly as she finished tying her bindings. Her cheeks were tinted pink with embarrassment for talking back, but she was unwilling to continue being treated second rate by the fox spirit. "I… I know I'm n-not perfect… People back h-home tell me that e-everyday… But s-stop yelling at m-me! I… I'm already s-stressed enough just pretending to b-be a boy… I don't n-need you yelling at m-me every other minute!"

In the corner of the tent, little Usagi bleated out her approval and hopped up and down excitedly at Hinata's show of standing up for herself against the arrogant fox.

For a long moment, Kurama simply stared at Hinata, and Hinata felt her angry expression falter slightly as she stared back at the fox's unreadable face. Had she made him mad? If she had, that was not good. It would be terrible for her if she had somehow angered the only living creature in this camp that was technically on her side. Other than Usagi and Rin, that is.

But then, the fox smirked at her. "Well, well, well… Seems like you're finally growing a backbone. That's good. Keep it up and show off that new attitude to the other men in camp today. Don't let them keep thinking you're a sissy."

Hinata's face brightened at his words, and the angry expression all but immediately vanished from her face as she looked away shyly.

"I… I c-couldn't do that! That's… T-That's far too embarrassing!" she squeaked.

"You just proved to me right now that you can do it if you put your mind to it," Kurama argued. "I'll be honest with you, Girl. I was actually beginning to think that turning you into a war hero might be a useless cause, but you just proved me wrong, and let me tell you, it's not easy for me to admit when I'm wrong. You can do it if you want to. Do you want the officials here to find out that Hiro Hyuuga is actually a woman?"

"N-No…"

"Then drop that shy and quiet act of yours and show me your war face!"

Hinata just blinked at the fox guardian, not really sure what she was supposed to do.

Kurama growled. Why was this girl being so difficult?! She had just managed to impress him! Where was that fire he had seen only a few moments ago?!

"Come on! Scare me, Girl!" he snapped.

Being yelled at again sparked something in Hinata, and her face contorted into another angry scowl as she glared at the fox.

Kurama smirked in approval. "Excellent! That's the Hyuuga spirit you need to have today! Show that blonde Captain and the rest of men that face and they'll for sure take you seriously!"

Hinata blinked, and then sighed as she turned to fully change into her clothes for the day. It was easy for Kurama to say that she could do it, but he didn't realize how much willpower it took her to say or do confrontational things, and she could really only do it when she became super emotional. It wasn't like her emotions had a switch on them that she could turn off and on.

"A-Anything else I should b-be aware of?" she asked.

"Yeah. Make a few friends in the ranks today."

There was a long, definite pause.

"Now y-you're asking for the i-impossible. Nobody likes m-me after what happened y-yesterday," Hinata reminded him rather sadly.

Kurama growled in frustration. "Then make them like you, Girl! You need more allies other than me and that dumb horse of yours and you need more—"

There was a series of heated squeaks as Usagi twitched her pink nose rather angrily.

"—and the rabbit," the fox added with an eye roll. "Anyway, you need more companions than us in case something should happen and you wind up in a tight spot. Your horse is tied up here so he can't always come to your aid, and me and the fuzzball can't always help you out. We have to try and stay hidden. Remember, the other men will think you're weird if you have a guardian and a tiny rabbit spirit following you around!"

"I… I'm p-pretty sure they already t-think I'm weird…" Hinata mumbled quietly as she tugged on her pants.

Kurama sighed. Forget powerful jutsus or sharp blades. This woman's shy attitude would be the real death of him!

He smacked her hand with one of his many tails in order to get her attention, and fixed her with a piercing look. "Look, the point is, you're going to need support from other humans whether you like it or not! So again, drop that quiet attitude of yours, put on a smile, and go make some friends today!"

Hinata sighed, but she knew deep down that her guardian was quite right. "Yes… Okay… I'll t-try to make some friends, b-but you should know… I've never r-really had any close friend's b-before. The c-closest things I have to friend's b-back home are… are my sister Hanabi, my c-cousin Neji, and his new wife T-Tenten. If… If they weren't f-family, I'm sure it would be just as d-difficult for me to talk to them as it is f-for me to talk to anyone else…"

"In this particular instance, so long as you make an effort, I will be satisfied. Just show the others that you're sorry about yesterday and that you're trying to make it up to them. They probably won't forgive you right away, but they'll at least know that you're putting an effort in to be a good fellow ninja to them."

Hinata gave him a small nod. "O-Okay… That I c-can at least try to d-do…" she said. She knew she was an embarrassing stain on her family tree, but if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was be kind. She could at least try and show the other men that she was sorry for what happened yesterday.

There was a sudden loud neighing from beyond the tent flaps, and Hinata, Kurama, and Usagi all looked up. Rin was snorting as he said something unknown to Hinata in his horse language. Hinata stared at her stallion in obvious confusion, but Kurama's eyes widened.

"What do you mean the troops just left?!" he demanded.

His translation sent a jolt of fear through the young heiress.

"T-They what?!" she squeaked.

She scrambled to fix her hair back into its manly-looking ponytail and throw on her shirt and flak jacket, and then dashed out of the tent and toward the main area of camp at top speed.

A few moments after she was gone, a disgruntled Kurama emerged from the tent with her weapons pouch hanging off of one of his tails. "Wait! Your weapons!" he called out, but Hinata was already too far away to hear his words.

With a sigh, the fox dropped the small pouch on the ground beside him as Usagi hopped cutely out of the tent and stopped beside him.

"That girl… she's going to be the death of me…" He muttered lowly.

Rin nickered in an angry fashion and Usagi's tiny little eyes narrowed as she bleated out her own irritation.

"Fine! Fine! The death of _us!"_ he corrected.

* * *

In the heart of the campgrounds, the men were lining up as they waited for Captain Naruto and Co-Captains Sasuke and Gaara to arrive so they could begin their training. Some of the older men were finishing up last minute breakfasts or were stretching so as to be limbered up when the leaders finally showed up, but the younger generation was acting rather unruly. They were shouting at one another obnoxiously as they wrestled each other, but not to the extent that had caused the huge fight yesterday. All in all, they were just acting like typical guys.

Kakashi was leaning back against a particularly tall wooden pine pole a short distance away that had been dug firmly into the ground as he read some more of the latest book in the Icha Icha Paradise series. He knew the recruits would have to shape up once Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara arrived to begin training, but he saw no harm in letting them act childish for the time being. In his opinion, it was better to let them get this rowdy behavior out of their system now, because should they behave this way later during training, they would be severely punished. And besides, he was too enraptured with where he was currently in this chapter to really care what they were all currently doing. He liked being a ninja just fine, but when he was surrounded by a camp full of guys, odds were that there were some who were also big fans of the Legendary Toad Sage's literary work. He couldn't risk another man spoiling the latest edition for him! He had to hurry and finish this book!

Shikamaru was lying on the ground next to him, his hands folded behind his head as he stared up at the clouds floating across the sky. This whole war was such a drag. Why did he have to have been born with such a high intellect? All he ever wanted was to be just an average shinobi and make an average living. He was supposed to marry a regular woman who wasn't super pretty or super ugly, but above all, wasn't super troublesome. He was supposed to have two kids, a girl first and then a boy, and then quietly retire after his daughter married and his son became a successful ninja. He would spend the rest of his days just playing shogi and watching clouds. A nice, carefree, leisurely retirement that he would enjoy until he died of old age, before his wife. Yep, that was what he always dreamed of. A life as simple and lazy as one of the clouds he was staring up at in the sky, but sadly, life had other plans for him, and now because of this war, he was going to have to exert himself unnecessarily in both strength and mind.

Troublesome. All of it was very troublesome.

Ebisu on the other hand was skulking around with his clipboard, keeping his eyes sharp for any signs of misbehavior. The personal advisor of the Hokage loved to criticize people, and this appointment at the training camp was too good an opportunity for him to waste. Since the previous afternoon, Ebisu had taken notes on the quality of the food, the tents, the behavior of the men, and the fact that a member of the prestigious Hyuuga clan, 'Hiro,' had been the one to start the huge fight yesterday. It was finally time for him to observe the quality of training. He had no doubts whatsoever that the second-born Uchiha and the third-born Sabaku heir would be fine teachers, but that Naruto…! Ebisu scowled as he thought about the new Captain. He would trust General Minato with his very life, but that boy… because of his mother that made him half Uzumaki! Of all the women in the world, the possible future Fourth Hokage had to marry a woman and have a son who were related to such a disgraceful clan. It was truly a shame.

Ebisu had not been bluffing when he told Naruto yesterday that he would be watching his performance as a Captain and teacher to the new recruits very, very closely. Regardless of the General's decision to appoint his son as the leader of the camp, Ebisu didn't trust him, and if he had the smallest inkling that Naruto was not doing a good job, his report would go straight to both General Minato _and_ the Third Hokage. No doubt about it!

He passed by a group of wrestling ninjas, and cleared his throat loudly as he tapped the top of his clipboard with his pen to get their attention. "Order! People, order please!" he called out.

Most of the guys shared sneaky looks, and then began raising their hands eagerly.

"Fine, get me some pan-fried noodles!" called out Kiba.

"Ham and eggs! And make it snappy!" yelled Choji.

"I want some rice balls!" hollered Kankuro.

Ebisu gritted his teeth in frustration from them mocking their authority. "That's not funny!" he snapped. He stormed off to stand beside Kakashi and Shikamaru and make a note of the audacity of the men for the Four Kage's, the Mizukage Regent, and the rest of the Imperial Court to read.

As the men continued to mock the fuming advisor, Lee happened to glance over to the side, and noticed which recruit was running as fast as he could to make it to the lineup of men before the Captain and Co-Captain's arrived. He quickly jabbed his elbow into Kiba's side to get his attention.

"It appears that our new youthful friend slept in this morning," he told his friends. The others looked over, and upon seeing 'Hiro' run up and move to stand near them as they all waited for Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara to show up, they all shared knowing looks as they crowded around the Hyuuga descendant.

Hinata fought the urge to go completely rigid as all five of them gathered around her. She knew she promised Kurama that she would try and make friends with these men, but how could she when it was obvious that they were all still mad about yesterday?

Kankuro smirked as he shuffled forward and grinned eerily at the nervous heiress. "Morning, Hiro. Hungry at all?" he asked rather innocently.

Hinata vehemently shook her head at the question. "N-No, thank you. I… I already ate…" she said carefully.

She tried to wisely back away from the Suna ninja, but ended up backing right into Shino's chest. She spun around to face him. Despite his eyes being hidden behind his dark sunglasses and the plain expression on his face, Hinata could tell by the way the bugs were buzzing angrily around his head that even he was still mad about staying up late to clean everything yesterday.

"Too bad," he said in a slightly angry tone of voice. "My insects have been buzzing all night. When they are not happy, I am not happy. And right now, they happen to want to feast on someone's chakra…"

Choji and Lee grabbed both of Hinata's arms to keep her still as the insects around Shino's head buzzed even louder than before. Hinata squeezed her eyes shut. As a woman, she had never used her chakra before other than in the rare instances when she activated her Byakugan, but based on the stories Neji would often tell her, Hanabi, and Tenten about previous missions he had been on, having chakra sucked out of your body or even sealed off was considered an extremely painful process. All she could do was pray that she wouldn't yelp or scream in her normal female voice.

As the insects started to swarm around Hinata's body, a booming voice suddenly thundered across the entire training field, making Shino and his bugs hesitate.

"Troops, attention!"

Heads turned at once toward the edge of the field. Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara had all just arrived to begin training.

Upon seeing the higher-ups appear on the field, Shino's insects receded and Lee and Choji both released their grasps on Hinata's arms so as to hurry in line. Hinata faltered a bit when they let her go, but still managed to stay upright and stumbled into line beside them. They both shot glares at her for not finding another place to stand during the beginning of training, but stayed silent about it. They didn't dare risk angering the Captain or Co-Captain's so early in the morning.

As the men all quieted down and stood at attention in the single file line, Kakashi sighed as he snapped his book shut, and Shikamaru yawned before standing back up, and they both moved away from the large pole so as to move to the side of the field and look on at the training session with rather lazy expressions. While they were both already fully fledged ninjas that were registered for the Allied Shinobi Forces and didn't need to participate in the training plan that Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara had developed for the recruits, they did have to pay attention to the training to make sure everything was going smoothly. Ebisu was watching the Captain approach the new ninjas with a critically sharp gaze. If Naruto did the slightest thing wrong, he would jot it down on his clipboard faster than the boy could blink!

When Naruto finally came to a halt in front of the line of the newly minted ninjas, he waited for Sasuke and Gaara to join him before fully turning his attention to the recruits.

"All right, men! Listen up! Today's the only day that you're allowed to have acted as obnoxious as you just did while waiting for the three of us to show up! From now on, you assemble swiftly and silently every morning!" he shouted out to everyone.

Gaara nodded in agreement to Naruto's words, and set down his sand gourd beside two large barrels filled with blunted kunais and dulled shuriken for practice. As he turned to face the long line of men waiting, a great cloud of sand flew out of the gourd, whizzed through the air, and picked up a large boulder off to the side of the field before returning back near Gaara. Everyone in line gazed in awe at the seemingly effortless way Gaara had been able to manipulate his sand without even batting an eye.

Gaara's eyes narrowed as he studied the expressions of the ninja recruits. "Rest assured," he declared, "anyone who acts otherwise—"

The sand holding up the boulder suddenly compacted tightly together and crushed it into bits and pieces.

"—will answer to me."

Every man in line gulped in fear. Most of them were ninjas already, but to see someone be able to do something like that with even moving a muscle made them all very fearful of the youngest son of the Kazekage.

Sasuke spoke up then. "The three of us are aware that most of you are already registered ninjas for your home regions, but regardless, most of you are only skilled in your clan's secret techniques and only know a few other skills, or if you're a civilian born shinobi, you probably only know a handful of jutsus and a bit of taijutsu. The three of us are going back to the basics with training you all. Even if you're someone who's never so much as held a kunai before now, by this time in three months, you'll be as strong as someone who's been training for most of their life."

"So no slacking off, got it? Training might be hard, but it can also be fun if you put your mind to it!"

A few men in line snickered at the Captain's words, but Hinata did not join in with their laughter. She was too distracted by the fact that Naruto, after having said that last bit, had suddenly decided to unzip the jacket of his orange and black jumpsuit and throw it off to the side before taking off his chainmail armor and the black short-sleeved shirt underneath as well.

While it was impossible for her not to go as red as a tomato from seeing the blonde boy's muscular chest, it took all her willpower to not openly gawk at him. She bit her tongue and tried to concentrate on the rather bitter taste of the blood that was spreading across her tongue instead of how well built and very good looking her superior officer happened to be. This was definitely a problem. Hinata knew when she first met Naruto yesterday that he definitely reminded her of that boy who had saved her back when she was a child, but she had to keep her thoughts on track and not slip up! In all her preparations in how to act like a guy while traveling to camp, the one thing that the young heiress hadn't thought of was what she was supposed to do if she happened to find one of her fellow ninjas rather attractive! She was surrounded by men in every direction. Naturally she would think at least one was handsome! She would have to be very careful from now on with not only how she looked at Naruto, but how she interacted with him, too. She didn't want to come across to the rest of the camp as being gay!

She snapped out of her embarrassment as Naruto reached into the weapons pouch attached to his leg, and pulled out the special tri-pronged kunai that his father had given to him yesterday before leaving for the front lines. He twirled it around in his hand before continuing his speech.

"We'll start off with something really easy! Chakra control!"

A collective groan filled the camp. Hinata carefully looked around at her fellow shinobi, not understanding why everyone seemed to be dreading whatever they'd be learning first. Wasn't chakra what was used to perform jutsus? She knew that one of the many talents of her Byakugan when activated was that it would allow her to see the chakra network in a person that was otherwise invisible to the normal human eye, but other than that, she didn't know too much about this mystical inner energy source that all human beings possess. As a woman and the future head of the Hyuuga clan, it wasn't proper for her to know about all those details.

Further down the line, Kiba was scoffing. "Oh, please! Like there's anything you three can teach us about chakra control that we don't know already!"

All three trainers immediately turned toward the Inuzuka with annoyance obvious on their faces. Naruto stopped spinning the kunai around in his hand, and instead gripped the handle of the ninja knife rather firmly.

"You're an Inuzuka. Kiba, right?" he asked with a raised brow.

Kiba blinked at being called out, but nodded at the question.

Naruto smirked, and reeled his arm back as though to throw the tri-pronged kunai right at his chest. Everyone in line quickly took a large step back so that only Kiba would be struck and no one else would accidentally be in the Captain's field of vision.

After a quick moment of appraising the terrified look on canine-like man's face, Naruto fully grinned before turning and throwing the kunai high up in the air in the direction of the large pine pole. It lodged itself right near the very top of the pole, leaving only a few inches left of space.

"Thank you for being our very first volunteer! Go ahead! Retrieve the kunai!" said the blonde excitedly.

Kiba blinked at the request, but then a smirk spread across his face. He'd show this prissy blonde Captain and his stuck up friends just what the Inuzuka clan could do! No one made a fool out of him! He growled determinedly as he punched a fist into his hand, and then cracked his knuckles. "Hmph! No problem! I'll get that kunai, Blondie!" he promised, his clenched up teeth flashing in Naruto's direction. _"And_ I'll do it with my shirt on! Right, Akamaru?"

The oversized dog at his side barked in response.

Kiba grinned at his lifelong friend's show of encouragement, and then stepped forward toward the pole. Naruto folded his arms and smirked at him, waiting for Sasuke or Gaara to explain the one condition that was required in the attempt to fetch the kunai.

Kiba brought his hands together in a hand sign and was just about to shout out the name of a jutsu, but Sasuke stepped in between him and the pole.

"Stop," he ordered.

Kiba scowled, now completely annoyed. "What?!" he snapped.

"You didn't let Naruto finish explaining."

"He told me to get the kunai! I'm doing that! One good jutsu and I'll knock that pole over!"

He tried to step around the dark-haired Uchiha, but Sasuke's eyes narrowed in frustration, and stepped back in between him and the pole again.

"You can't use any jutsus, Inuzuka. You need to climb the pole."

Kiba was taken aback by this twist, but then shrugged after a few moments.

"Test of strength, huh? Whatever, man. I'll still get that kunai without breaking a sweat!"

He tried to move around Sasuke again and monkey his way up the pole, but this time it was Gaara's words that stopped him.

"Hold it. There is one rule."

" _What now?!"_

"You cannot use your hands."

This time, everyone standing in line stared at the three trainers as though they were insane. Kiba's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head at Gaara's words.

"W-What?!"

"You must climb the pole only using your feet."

"That's… That's impossible! How could I possibly only use my feet?!"

"By using your chakra, of course!"

Heads turned to look back at Naruto, who was smiling as though his explanation was obvious. Kiba just looked confused.

"My chakra? I… I don't understand."

Sasuke scoffed. "What a joke… Here I thought we were asked for men with actual ninja skills to enlist for this war, not a bunch of girls who don't even know the fundamentals of chakra use…"

Kiba fumed with rage. "Hey, you prick! I'll have you know that I'm a great ninja! I've gone on lots of missions before and have brought great honor to the Inuzuka clan!"

"You're obviously not that great if you haven't learned this basic skill yet," Sasuke went on. "This is a very important. Chakra is the source of all ninja's power, and is composed of two types of energy. The physical energy is found in all the cells of the human body that work together, but the spiritual energy can be intensified by training and experience."

"When merged together, these two energies are what fuel jutsus," Gaara explained. "Hand signs are what merge chakra into the correct form for all types of jutsus."

Hinata nodded at this brief explanation, grateful to know about all this as she had never been taught it before. She was the only person there who did though, as all the other men in line were groaning from being told something that they already knew about.

"Ugh! What's the deal with this rather obvious explanation?! The whole point is to learn the jutsu, right?!" Kiba snapped.

"I gotta agree with Dog Boy. We already use chakra energy in our jutsus. How does this recap of an explanation help us, little brother?" Kankuro chimed in.

Gaara scowled at the interruption from his elder brother, and a small puff of sand emerged from his gourd again and whizzed through the air. As it neared Kankuro, it gave him a small smack upside the head. Not enough to seriously injure him, but enough to make him hiss in slight pain.

"Yo! Not cool, Bro!" Kankuro whined, pressing his hand down on the small scratch on his cheek.

"First of all, Kankuro, address me by my proper title during training," the scary redhead growled. "Second, you and Kiba are both wrong. It's obvious that none of you have mastered the use of chakra. You all have barely scratched the surface of it."

"What the hell do you mean by that?!" Kiba demanded.

"It's just like Gaara and Sasuke explained," Naruto said. "You gotta learn to draw on both physical and spiritual energies and then combine them within yourself, but at a fixed proportion. Remember, not all jutsus use the same amount of chakra. There are some jutsus that require you to use up a lot of chakra, and there are others that need very little chakra. But all jutsus need you to select and combine your chakra in exactly the right way. I'm gonna go off on a tangent here and assume that up 'til now, you've all just been guessing at the proportions of chakra you use for jutsus and hoping that they come out right, am I right?"

Hinata glanced around and noticed the rest of the men in line exchanging uneasy looks at their neighbors before facing the three trainers and guiltily nodding. Not wanting to seem any different than anyone else, she did the same.

"Well, that line of thinking ends today! The truth is, even if you happen to have a lot of chakra, unless you're able to balance and control it, it's all worthless! You're jutsu may not work at all, or it will just be a joke!"

"Your explanation makes absolutely no sense," protested Shino as he adjusted his dark sunglasses. "I have been adept in my clan's jutsus for many years now, and I have never once had any problems with using my chakra for them."

There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the men who had come from prominent ninja clans.

Sasuke sighed as he considered how to phrase his next explanation. "As a member of a prominent clan myself, take it from me when I say that when it comes to those types of jutsus, chances are you've already learned how to channel your chakra correctly for those particular techniques."

Many of the men blinked, not understanding.

"Think about it. For those of you from prominent clans, you have been training in those jutsus ever since you could first start to mold chakra, so around the time you were about four or five. Because of this, you learned at a young age how much chakra you're supposed to use when performing the secret skills of your clans, and if you happen to have a bloodline ability, instinct is second nature to you for the amount of chakra you want to use for your clan's techniques."

"Regular jutsus are different though," Gaara said. "As they are skills that you have not studied since a small age, you can be unsure of how much chakra to use. Use too little, and the jutsu does not work, but use far too much, and you end up wasting unnecessary energy. Then you are out of chakra, and you can't fight at all."

"If that happens while out on the front lines, you'll end up being a target for a Sound ninja bastard," Naruto added. "That's why you're all going to train so hard, controlling your chakra will be second nature!"

The men in line looked at one another after the end of the explanation. Hinata herself had to agree with what they had said. If they didn't learn how to master their control of chakra, they would definitely not be ready to fight with the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces out on the front lines.

"All right, I'll admit you all make some valid points," admitted Kiba begrudgingly. "But what does any of this have to do with climbing the pole only using our feet?! How the hell does that help us?!"

"It has everything to do with it!" Naruto protested. "You have to focus your chakra to the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the pole! This is only one of many ways to apply the power of chakra! Later on, we all plan on teaching you lot how to walk on water!"

Startled gasps escaped the lips of everyone in line as they murmured quietly amongst themselves at this revelation. Hinata herself was amazed. Walking on water… she knew that ninjas were capable of extraordinary things, but she couldn't help but be stunned by this idea.

"Before we do that though, you all must master this exercise first," Sasuke cut in. "You must all learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in your body. We're not ashamed to admit that this is difficult even for us, advanced ninjas, especially while keeping it up during a fight."

"This particular type of climbing requires a very subtle mix of both physical and spiritual energy," Gaara explained. "And the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra."

"Getting the picture now? If you can all master this, not only can you all master any jutsu, you can vastly improve the jutsus you already know!" Naruto added excitedly.

Sasuke smirked. "Theoretically, anyway. You all also have to learn how to maintain your chakra levels. As most of you know, during battle it can be harder to keep control of your chakra levels."

"A dangerous mistake. One wrong move can be your last," Gaara added. "To avoid this, maintaining chakra must become second nature. All but effortless."

"Strength and discipline, men! You'll need both to reach that kunai!" Naruto yelled. "Now, we can keep talking about this all day, but that won't increase your skills now, will it? Kiba, like I said before, you're our first volunteer! Give it a go!"

"Oh, and one more thing…"

Sasuke reached into the weapons pouch attached to his leg, and pulled out another kunai. He tossed it harmlessly toward Kiba, who caught it with a confused expression.

"Use the kunai to mark the pole at the highest point you can climb," he ordered monotonously. "After your turn, pass it on to the next person."

And with that, Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara all finally stepped out of Kiba's way so he could approach the pole.

For a long moment, Kiba just stood at the base of the pole and looked upwards at the kunai at the very top. Just by eyeballing it, the entire pole looked to be about thirty meters above the earth. One wrong move, and he could easily fall and break his neck! He thickly gulped. This would definitely be challenging, but there was no way in hell he was going to fail this exercise. He was an Inuzuka, and Inuzuka's were well known for their arrogance and pride.

With a determined nod to himself, Kiba gritted his teeth together and brought his hands together in a hand sign. The only visible sign that he had channeled his chakra to the onlookers was when the dust on the ground near his feet suddenly shot outwards and away from his body. As soon as he was done, he growled eagerly, and took off running at the large pole. He ran a few feet up the pole, and Hinata and the other men in line watched in awe as the ninja recruit managed to defy gravity… for all of three seconds. As soon as he was least four feet off the ground, his foot seemed to sink into the pole, and a large crater was left behind as he started to fall down. At the last moment, he raised the kunai Sasuke had tossed him, and made a quick slash across the wood before falling rather clumsily back down to the ground and landing with a somewhat painful thud.

As Kiba groaned and rubbed his side and his dog Akamaru trotted forward to check up on him, many of the men in line chuckled upon witnessing the canine-like ninja not being able to put his money where his mouth was, but not Hinata. Despite how rude he had been toward her the day before, she still felt bad for him. This exercise looked challenging, and she imagined that it had to be humiliating for Kiba to be the first person publically embarrassed like this by being the first failure.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara all nodded curtly at the good first attempt.

"Okay, next!" Naruto called out.

Kankuro stepped forward, and punched his fist into his open palm.

"No sweat at all! Gaara! When this is over and done, I expect a better tent! You're sleeping in the lap of luxury while I'm stuck with just a few sheets of cloth for shelter!"

Gaara's eyes narrowed at his older brother's arrogance, but made no comment whatsoever as he watched Kiba pass Kankuro the kunai as he stepped back in line, and then watched as his elder brother tried to channel his chakra.

Sure enough, when Kankuro tried to dash up the pole, he fared no better than Kiba had. He only managed to slash the kunai knife about an inch or so higher than Kiba had done on his attempt, and then managed to somersault backwards so as to land on his feet rather than land on his bottom as Kiba did before.

Shino went after him. His attempt was slightly better than Kiba's and Kankuro's had been. He managed to get an entire foot higher up the pole before losing control of his chakra, and slashed the kunai harshly into the wood of before falling back to earth all the same.

Lee's attempt to retrieve the kunai was… interesting to say the least. When he was called forward, he immediately stuck out his thumb in what could be considered a 'nice guy' pose.

"Yosh! If I cannot retrieve that kunai on my very first attempt, then I must do two hundred push-ups!"

Everyone blinked at the green spandex-wearing ninja, but before they could even question the logic behind what doing two hundred pushups had to do at all with a chakra control exercise, Lee was already seizing the kunai from Shino's hand and molding his chakra down by his feet. Unfortunately for the bushy-browed shinobi, he fared slightly worse than those who had gone before him. The kunai slash that was left behind in the pine pole was at least five inches below Kiba and Kankuro's. He frowned at his results when he was back on the ground.

"How unyouthful! I am not doing as well as my comrades, it seems… That leaves no other choice! I must do _three hundred_ push-ups, now! I must not fall behind! I will make Gai-sensei proud! The lotus of the City Hidden in the Leaves shall bloom twice!"

And with that, he zipped back to his place in line, got down on his hands and knees, and began doing a number of push-ups right then and there.

"One… two… three… four… five…"

Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and just about everyone else in line was taken aback as they watched him for several moments. There was truly no one quite like Rock Lee. He was a very… unique ninja; that was for certain.

Choji's attempt was nothing short of embarrassing. Like Lee, he did not succeed in passing Kiba or Kankuro's slash marks. That was fine, but he lost his footing when trying to land back on the ground, and fell down hard. Normally, that would have been fine, but because he was so overweight, the entire ground shook lightly from the impact. A few men in line snickered as the red-faced Akimichi brushed himself off and moved to stand beside his friends again, but they were quickly silenced when a kunai flew through the air and landed only a few precious centimeters away from their toes. Every head turned to see Shikamaru glaring coldly at the men who dared to laugh. He might only be the Lead Tactician and didn't have any say in punishment, but he was not about to just stand by and let them laugh like that at one of his best friends.

Despite all the trouble she had gotten yesterday when Choji alerted the others in the fight that she had tried to run away, Hinata shot him an unnoticed sympathetic smile. She couldn't imagine how embarrassed he had to be right now.

"Okay, Hiro! You're up next!"

Hinata snapped back to attention as she looked back over at the trainers. Naruto was smiling at her as he gestured for her to come forward.

"M-My turn?" she said worriedly in her scruffy male voice.

"That's right! Show us what you can do!"

Hinata gulped. She had been watching the other men in line take a shot at using their chakra to try and reach the kunai, but they were still all somewhat experienced shinobi that were trying, and even they weren't doing very well in their turns. What were the odds that she, a woman who had never so much as tried to mold her chakra before other than when she was taught how to activate her Byakugan back when she was little, would do any better? Still, she couldn't just shake her head and skip her turn. She had to at least give this a try!

Trying to suppress her nerves, Hinata stumbled out of line and walked slowly up to the pine pole. As she approached the wooden beam, she could hear the faint snickers of laughter from the other men her age. Her cheeks burned with the knowledge that they were all expecting her to fail. To be honest, she actually knew she wasn't going to do any better than any of them did at this, but so long as she made a decent attempt at running up the pole, they would stop laughing at her. After all, despite them all being registered ninjas, none of them had even made it to the halfway point!

With shaky hands, Hinata picked up the discarded kunai that Choji had left on the ground, and then brought her hands together to replicate the hand sign she saw everyone else make when attempting to climb the pole. As she did so, she sensed something that felt almost like an energy of sorts travel throughout her entire body, and with pure willpower alone, she forced the energy to travel downwards until it resided solely in the bottoms of her feet. She didn't know exactly how strong she had to make the energy so that her feet would stick to the pole, so as a first attempt, she kept it at a somewhat low quality, but still strong enough that she could literally feel a tingling sensation spreading across the tips of her toes. As soon as she was done, she nodded in determination, and then took off running directly at the pole.

She expected that she would be able to run up at least five or six steps before her foot smashed into the pole and forcibly push her off like she had seen happen with those that went before her. What she hadn't expected was that after taking two steps up the pole, the chakra in her feet suddenly died away. Gravity worked against her, and before she could make any type of attempt to brace herself, she slipped on the wood and tumbled back down, bumping her head hard on the ground when she landed.

Within seconds, everyone in line burst out laughing.

Hinata's entire face burned with humiliation as she got to her feet. That had been the worst attempt yet. She hadn't even been able to run up the pole like the others had. The second she stepped onto the pole, she slipped and fell down, not even getting the opportunity to slash her progress onto the pole with the kunai. It was such a typical thing from her. After all, what more could anyone ever expect from a failure of a Hyuuga?

She tossed the kunai back toward Naruto and the others, and kept her eyes averted from everyone else's sneering faces as she walked slowly back to her place in line while gently massaging the bump on her head. She knew that this moment had truly sealed her fate in this camp of being declared the worst ninja recruit here. She was truly screwed now.

As she walked back, Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara all exchanged weary looks.

"We've got a long way to go," Naruto sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair.

Sasuke and Gaara just wordlessly nodded in response.

Hinata ignored the amused looks and sneers from her fellow troops as she got back in line. The bump on her head was her primary focus at the moment, so for once, she didn't care if they were all whispering mocking words about 'Hiro Hyuuga' right now behind their hands. She just continued to rub the sore spot on the back of her head and began wishing that she had packed more than one tub of her clan's special healing ointment while running away from home a few days ago. Something told her that by the end of training, she would need more than just one jar.

"All right, men! We'll come back to this exercise later!" Naruto announced. "Right now was really just a test to see where you all are at in terms of chakra control! We'll work on it again some other time! For now, let's see how you all are in terms of using weaponry in one-on-one combat!"

He turned toward the barrels filled with all the blunted kunais and dulled shuriken stars, and started tossing bunches of them all out to everyone in line.

As Hinata reached into the air to grab one of the kunais thrown towards her, a second hand shot out from the side, and snatched it up before she could. She turned to see Kankuro sneering at her out of the corner of his eye as he waved the knife cheekily in front of her face. Hinata gave him a small scowl. This was getting ridiculous! Were all the guys around her age range going to hate her throughout the entirety of the war just because of that stupid fight yesterday?! If so, they were all more immature than she had originally guessed.

"G-Give me that!" she whispered quietly, not wanting to attract any of the leader's attentions.

Kankuro gave her a wicked smirk as she made a quick move to snatch the kunai, and he held it high in the air, just out of her reach. "Beg for it, Hyuuga Boy!" he sneered.

Hinata's face flushed. In all her life, she had never been asked such a humiliating request. She knew just doing what he asked would get her the throwing knife, but she had her dignity! She really didn't feel comfortable begging for the weapon from one of the men here in camp that seemed thoroughly determined to make her life a living hell.

"I… I will do no s-such thing!" she declared firmly. She wasn't happy with herself for stuttering during that statement, but she was pleased to see that one of Kankuro's brows rose up from hearing the self-pride in her scruffy male voice.

"Hmm… seems like you might actually have a set of balls on you after all…" he muttered. "I'll admit, you've impressed me somewhat. Here, take it back."

He held the kunai out in his open palm so she could retrieve it. Hinata nodded gratefully and tried to grab her knife again, but then the steel tool seemed to slip through Kankuro's fingers, and it fell to grassy ground with a small clink.

"Oops! Sorry," Kankuro said with a sneaky grin.

Hinata's hands balled up into tight fists, but she kept her mouth shut as she bent down and retrieved the weapon, doing her best to ignore the way that most of the men nearby were cruelly snickering at her pathetic self as she straightened back up.

Kakashi and Shikamaru brought over tons of different training logs to be used as target practice for the men, and then once again stepped back to quietly watch the events unfold.

"All right, men, follow our example! Remember, we need to get down to business if we're to defeat the Sound!"

One by one, Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara demonstrated proper throwing technique by throwing the various kunais and shuriken stars at the training logs. Each one of the tiny metallic weapons was embedded deep into the wooden posts, and as soon as they were done, the three of them turned back toward the line of recruits, waiting to see if any of them were better at throwing their tools than they had been at practicing their chakra control.

Although the men in line grumbled at what they would have to do again, this time it was because this was such a simple skill to all of them that it didn't feel necessary to even take the time to practice. Target practice? To the men in line who were already ninjas and adept at going on missions, this seemed like a joke. Indeed, the only one's there that were grateful that this was being covered in training were the few number of civilian born men that had never elected to become shinobi, and Hinata herself.

While the other ninjas around her were striking their individual training logs with absolute accurate precision, Hinata continued to miss her target with her weapons. She knew her aim was awful, but she couldn't help but feel extremely self-conscious of her continuous letdown in such a rather basic ninja skill when she heard the men around her continue to try and hide their laughter as they watched her miss her target over and over again. Her cheeks burned. Was it at all possible for her to become any more embarrassed by all this?!

That was definitely the wrong question to ask.

A little further down the line, Kiba and Shino were throwing their weapons at training posts right next to one another, but their attention was focused solely on how poorly Hinata was doing. Kiba smirked as he watched another of Hinata's kunais miss the wooden log, and land on the grass a few feet away.

"Man, he sucks! How does someone with aim like that manage to become a ninja at all?! I mean, seriously!" he commented.

"I do not believe he is actually a ninja, Kiba," Shino said. "Just take a look at his stance. Quite poor for throwing weapons. I believe that despite being the heir to the Hyuuga clan, Hiro chose not to become a ninja and left the honor of being a ninja in battle solely to his cousin. Neji, I believe is what Choji said his name was. He will not last long during this war."

Kiba nodded in silent agreement as he threw another kunai at his post. Then a wild idea came to his mind, and he quickly grinned. "Hey! I've got an idea! Are you up for humiliating that loser?" he whispered.

Shino raised a brow, but otherwise didn't comment. Kiba took his lack of reaction as an affirmative, and hurriedly whispered his plan out of the corner of his mouth while he tossed more weapons at his post, trying to remain inconspicuous so as not to attract any attention to either of them.

When he was done, a rare look of amusement spread across Shino's lips.

"Simple, and yet has high probability of being very effective," mused the Aburame heir. "I shall do it."

"Ooh! Now this, I can't wait to see!" Kiba snickered.

Shino's expression looked the slightest bit mischievous as a small beetle crawled out from underneath his sleeve, and flew off in 'Hiro's' direction.

Hinata was all but oblivious as to what her two fellow ninjas had just conspired to do to make her look even more foolish. She was focused solely on the training post in front of her as she struggled to throw one of her shuriken stars at her large target, and on trying to drown out the disapproving words of Sasuke Uchiha as he, Naruto, and Gaara strolled up and down the line to see how everyone was faring in this simple training.

"Come on, faster! All of you!" the second-born Uchiha growled when he saw how long it took of some of the men to throw the kunais and shuriken repeatedly at the training posts. "Did they send us daughters to fight this war?! We asked for sons!"

Hinata had to hold back a giggle at that comment. Oh, the irony! She was so caught up in her thoughts, she failed to notice that Shino's beetle had landed on her shoulder, and was very carefully crawling down the back of her white shirt. For a few moments, she didn't feel anything, but then, as she was picking up a handful of shuriken to toss one-by-one at her training log, she suddenly felt the tiny-sized insect scampering around down her back.

Hinata yelped at the feeling and her shuriken stars went flying out in every direction as she instinctively threw out her hands from being startled by the feeling of the insect crawling along beneath her clothing. As she hopped up and down trying to force the bug to fall out, the men who had been practicing right nearby dropped down to the ground in order to avoid the accidentally thrown projectiles. Many of them shot annoyed glares at the young heiress that went completely unnoticed, since she was more concerned at the moment with trying to get her clothing free of the beetle.

Further away, Kiba was slapping his knees as he howled with laughter, and even Shino was cracking a small grin. Hiro Hyuuga would definitely be a source of endless amusement during their time in this war, no doubt about it.

Hidden behind the fold of a tent flap, Kurama and tiny Usagi cringed as they watched Hinata continue to unintentionally humiliate herself. She had a difficult road ahead of her in her quest to become a top class ninja if the men in camp were going to keep trying to make her fail.

As Hinata continued wiggling sporadically to get rid of the nuisance of a bug, Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara all focused their attention on the strange recruit.

"What's he doing?" Naruto wondered curiously, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side in clear puzzlement.

Sasuke smirked. "Acting like an idiot, obviously. He reminds me a bit of you back in the Academy. He has to be the saddest excuse for a man I've ever met if he reminds me of you…"

Naruto scowled at his best friend. "Hey! I wasn't that bad!"

"Trust me, Loser, you were. You were even worse, come to think of it. Out of the three of us, who was the dead last in our age group?"

"Bastard! That was a million years ago! I'm the leading Captain now!"

"And as the leading Captain, you should take care of that," Gaara noted, his expression still monotone and scary-looking as he observed Hinata continue to jump up and down. "Don't let that Hyuuga continue to act so mockingly."

"Oh, right! Good idea, Gaara!"

As Naruto took a step forward to speak to Hinata, Sasuke's hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder.

"Hold it. Lose the grin," he advised. "Remember, you have to come across as tough, not as their friend."

Naruto drew a face at the advice. "Why is that even necessary?! I know I'm in charge and all, but that's no reason why I have to be unnecessarily mean to them!"

"Because they need to remember that you're in charge at all times," said Gaara. "Maybe later on you can tone down the strict demeanor, but for now, you always have to come across as their superior."

Naruto nodded with a fixed jaw. He had been so happy yesterday when his father had so much faith in him and his abilities that he named him the Leading Captain, but he was regretting it now. Coming across as strict and tough wasn't something that came easily to him. He would have preferred to hang out and befriend some of the men right away, but instead, he would have to distance himself from all of them for an unforeseeable amount of time.

With a slight grumble to himself, Naruto forcibly fixed a scowl on his face as he approached Hinata. At first, Hinata was not aware that she had attracted his attention. She had finally managed to wriggle the annoying beetle out of her shirt, and was busy stomping on it hard into the ground with her foot. Unlike what her fellow troops thought, she was not stupid. She had caught wind of Kiba and Shino's laughter from where they had been training out of the corner of her eye, and had realized then that the bug that was in her shirt must have come from one of the private reserves Shino kept in the hive inside his body. Thanks to paying attention during her lessons back home about the various clans in the Land of Fire, she knew that members of the Aburame clan had ways of communicating with their bugs. If she left the bug alone and the beetle reported back to Shino that it had spotted bandages covering her upper chest where she had bound her chest flat, he might get suspicious of her. Suspicions of her true gender were not something she could deal with. No, the best thing to do was to simply kill this bug before it could report back to its master. Shino must have thousands of bugs living inside his body. The loss of one would not bother him, and even if it did, what more could the men here in camp do to her? She was already at the top of everyone's shit list anyway…

"Hey, Hiro!" called a voice right by her ear.

Hinata gasped and whirled around. Naruto was standing behind her with a forced glare on his face. In truth, Naruto actually felt bad for 'Hiro,' as he knew first-hand how it felt to be considered the worst recruit in the entire ranks, but as much as he hated to admit it, Sasuke and Gaara both had a point. He had to be tough on the Hyuuga in front of him, despite how much he didn't want to be.

Hinata's cheeks flared red hot with humiliation as Naruto seized what was left of the handful of shuriken out of her hand, and threw them off to the side on the grass. She was beyond embarrassed, and in this instance, she couldn't exactly blame her superior officer for getting mad at her. Despite this entire incident being all Kiba and Shino's fault for trying to humiliate her, she _had_ accidentally thrown those small weapons at a few of the other men in her panic to get the bug out from under her clothes…

"C-Captain!" she gasped nervously.

"Yo! What's the deal?! Throwing your shuriken at the other recruits?! Not cool, Man!"

Hinata bit her lip as she tried to ignore the sound of amused laughter erupting from the mouths of her fellow ninjas.

"I… I'm terribly s-sorry, sir…" she said with a bowed head.

For a long, terrifying moment, Hinata worried that she might be punished in some way, but finally, Naruto's glare diminished slightly, and he jerked his head in the general direction of her training log.

"Consider this a second chance. I don't like dealing out punishments too often, but I will if I have to. But mark my words, Mister! Before we're through, I'll make a man out of you somehow! And I never go back on my word! That's my nindo! My ninja way!"

All around them, the men finished laughing at their Hyuuga comrade, and were turning their attention back to their own training logs, and in the background, Ebisu was sneering at the misfit man from the respected ninja clan as he scribbled down what had just occurred on his clipboard. Kakashi and Shikamaru both shot the ninja advisor half-hearted, lazy glares for making a note of such a minor thing, but otherwise stayed silent. Shikamaru's specialty in this war was strictly tactics, and Kakashi was only here as a veteran to make sure that the three rookie trainers were training the new shinobi recruits well. It was not their place to get involved with the work of the camp inspector. Gaara and Sasuke just nodded at their friend's harsh discipline. They knew Naruto didn't like coming off as mean to the new recruits, but again, it was necessary for his position. He had done a good job.

Beyond the tent flap, Kurama was growling in Naruto's direction, and Usagi was quietly bleating words for him to stay where he was and to remain calm. If he ran out there now, he would alarm everyone when they saw his many tails and that would cause Hinata further trouble.

Hinata stayed still for several moments and stared at her feet as Naruto started to walk back toward his two friends, too ashamed of herself to continue training at first. But then, Naruto suddenly came to a halt, and looked back at her over his shoulder.

"Oh, and Hiro?" he said.

Hinata's head snapped up and met Naruto's gaze, and was surprised to see a warm, friendly smile spreading across his face. "Y-Yes, sir?"

Naruto's smile only seemed to grow. "You're stance is way off! You're keeping yourself all closed off when you throw your weapons! Keep your body open! That will help your aim for sure!"

Hinata blinked at the helpful tip, and then smiled and nodded to him.

"Okay… T-Thank you, Captain."

"No sweat at all! I wouldn't be a good trainer if I didn't help you out!"

As he walked back off, Hinata selected a lone kunai from the pile beside her, and focused her attention back on her training log. She followed the advice Naruto had been kind enough to give her, and opened her body more as she prepared her stance, took careful aim, and then threw the kunai. It soared through the air a moment, and then became lodged deep into the wood.

She smiled wholeheartedly at her success. She managed to throw it right! If she could do this, she could do anything that Naruto and the others trainers threw at her! She knew she could!

* * *

Again, it was a mistake to think such things and curse her own luck.

After training with kunai, they began training in various types of ninjutsu's. Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara wanted to see what types of attack jutsus the new recruits knew already, and then work on improving those jutsus as well as teaching them a few other ones to add to their bag of tricks. Again, most of the men here at camp already knew a lot of jutsus, and showed them off proudly to the trainers. Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara would all nod to them when they showed off what they already knew, and would then often toss them a scroll from the pile beside them filled with notes of a new jutsu they were to start studying immediately and begin practicing right away.

The only men there that didn't show off any types of ninjutsu skills were Lee and Hinata.

Lee's reasoning behind this was actually quite unusual.

"What do you mean, you physically can't do jutsus?" Gaara asked, quite puzzled by the explanation given to him, Naruto, and Sasuke by the green spandex-wearing ninja standing before them.

"Exactly what I said, Sir! It is a mystery to both me and Gai-sensei, but I happened to have been born with very small chakra coils!" The energetic boy explained. "It is therefore very difficult for me to mold my chakra, making it all but impossible for me to do either ninjutsu or genjutsu!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara all exchanged surprised looks. They had to admit, none of them had ever anticipated someone like this in the Allied Shinobi Forces. A ninja that could not do either ninjutsu or genjutsu was indeed a rarity.

"So… you're saying that you don't have much experience out on the field then?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, no, Captain! I am still quite a youthful shinobi! When Gai-sensei realized that I had no skills whatsoever in those areas, he focused all his training methods into my taijutsu! When we begin working on just our taijutsu training, I shall happily show the three of you the fruits of my efforts for the past few years! You shall all be amazed at just how brightly the flames of youth burn!"

Captain Naruto and Co-Captains Sasuke and Gaara stared at the grinning, bushy eye-brow ninja for a few extra moments as they processed this, but eventually they all ended up shrugging at the response. If it turned out when they tested for taijutsu capabilities that Lee was less than mediocre at best and had simply made this up as an excuse to get out of training, there would definitely be repercussions. For now, they would let it go. After all, there were still more men that had to reveal their ninjutsu skills.

Hinata did her best to hide herself behind the majority of men. She did not want to attract any attention at all this time. She had never learned a jutsu before and therefore couldn't show them anything, but unlike Lee, they would be very displeased with her. The best course of action was to stay hidden behind the other men and try to stay overlooked for her turn, and when everyone started going off into various directions for additional space so as to practice their new jutsus, she would go and sneak a random scroll out of the bin and then prepare to learn it.

Unknown to Hinata, Choji was watching her out of the corner of his eye as he waited for his turn. He made no attempt whatsoever to hurry and show off his jutsus. He just waited patiently in line as he schemed how to embarrass the Hyuuga heir even further. When he was finally called forward, he showed the three trainers a rather impressive Earth Release ninjutsu, and accepted a scroll passed to him by Gaara on how to form a defensive Earth Barrier jutsu.

As he moved back in line, a sneaky grin spread across the normally kind Akimichi's face, and he cupped one of his hands around his mouth to make sure that everyone heard him.

"Yo! Hiro! Why don't _you_ go next?" he shouted, a cunning edge dripping from his tone of voice.

Hinata froze in horror from where she'd been hiding behind a group of chatty, unobservant men in their early thirties. Part of her couldn't help but feel slightly angry with Choji for ruining her rather perfect plan, but she remained quiet as she moved around the men and shakily stepped forward.

Hinata bit her lip as everyone stared at her, waiting to see what she could do. How was she supposed to get out of this one?

"What are you waiting for?" Sasuke asked, his brows furrowed with impatience. "Show us what ninjutsus you know."

Hinata gulped. "I… I don't k-know any ninjutsus…" she murmured quietly.

There was a long pause as everyone simply stared at her while they processed this. The men didn't even laugh at this, as they were too surprised by this revelation. Lee was one thing, as he a valid reason as to why he couldn't do jutsus, but a regular ninja that didn't know a single ninjutsu? Such a thing was completely unheard of!

"Say that again," said Gaara. There was no doubt whatsoever that his words were meant as a demand, not a question.

Hinata's face burned. "I… I d-do not know any ninjutsu, or… or g-genjutsu…"

Naruto seemed to be absolutely flabbergasted at her response. "Lee I somewhat get for not being able to do jutsus, but how the hell did you make it to be a ninja if you don't know any jutsus?! Are you a taijutsu master like him?!"

Hinata flushed harder as she hurriedly spoke out a quick lie. "W-Well… the Hyuuga clan is v-very old fashioned… We believe that we o-only need to fight with our b-bloodline abilities so… so I never learned h-how to do other jutsus…"

As Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara all stared at her in disbelief, murmurs erupted from the onlookers. Especially from Kiba.

"I said it before, didn't I? Old world clan shit! Damn Hyuuga's think they're too good to learn typical jutsus…" he sneered to his friends.

Lee, Choji, Kankuro, and Shino all quietly snickered.

Hinata's ears burned, but she didn't dare look away from the trainer's unreadable expressions.

After a while, Naruto finally shrugged. "Makes sense, I guess. The Hyuuga clan's always prided themselves in fighting strictly with their clan's secret arts… Well, that tradition ends today!"

He foraged around in the pile of scrolls for a moment, and then pulled out a particularly large scroll, which he tossed into the surprised heiress's hands.

"Try that one! It's a C-Rank Wind Style ninjutsu called Great Breakthrough! Primarily used for mid-ranged attacks, but packs quite the punch! Very useful in my opinion!"

Hinata hurriedly nodded. "T-Thank you, sir…" she mumbled, and then hurried away from everyone's snickering laughter so as to have some space to read the scroll's contents and practice.

She found a somewhat secluded area a short distance away. She sat down on the grass, unrolled the scroll, and quietly skimmed over the basics concepts of the jutsu. Just as Naruto had said, the jutsu was indeed very powerful, and part of her couldn't help but feel somewhat giddy that her handsome Captain thought her worthy enough to be given the opportunity to learn such a great jutsu. When she was done reading, she set the scroll aside, got back up to her feet, and faced a number of targets that had been set up nearby. She formed the necessary five hand signs of tiger, ox, dog, rabbit, and snake, took a deep breath, and then shouted out,

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Hinata released her breath, and tried to release a great stream of wind, but no great gusts of wind shot forward. A barely noticeable breeze was lightly felt in the air for a few moments, but it died away as quickly as it had appeared. She frowned sadly at her horrible first try.

In the distance, more people couldn't help but laugh when they witnessed the lack of action from the attempt of the jutsu, but Naruto couldn't help but frown. He really felt bad for Hiro, but he simply couldn't focus all his attention on just the Hyuuga heir. He had to spend his time equally with all the men. He shot the Hyuuga recruit a sad look, and then turned away to call forward the next man in line.

* * *

When Hinata went back to her tent that night, not only was she sore and achy as she had never been before, she was also suffering from slight chakra exhaustion, something she had never experienced before. Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara had assured everyone that their chakra would be replenished while they slept, so the young princess had every intention of hitting the hay immediately. She didn't particularly mind missing dinner, considering she still had a little food still packed away in her knapsack, and she had a pretty good idea that she would only face further humiliation from her peers should she show up in the food tent. No, she would just snack on a number of dumplings in her bag to tide over her hunger, and then go to sleep right away.

Or at least, that had been her plan.

"Woman! Where do you think you're going?!"

Hinata squeaked and spun around. Kurama was glaring at her from a tall cluster of grass nearby, and tiny Usagi was resting on his head. Realizing that it had been only her rude fox guardian, the young heiress visibly relaxed.

"Oh, K-Kurama! What are y-you doing here?"

"That's my question, Girl! Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Usagi squeaked out what sounded like a repeated rabbit version of Kurama's question as she twitched her pink nose.

"I… I'm tired… I w-was going back t-to my tent…"

"You most certainly are not! Get your butt moving toward the training field! Now!"

"W-What?"

"We should be counting our blessings that those trainers didn't focus on pure taijutsu training today, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they'll for sure be working on it soon! I need to give you a basic rundown on how to do the Gentle Fist style of combat that your clan is famous in before then! So consider this your daily night training! Get moving!"

"But… But K-Kurama… I'm low on c-chakra… I don't know h-how effective your t-training will be…"

"Then take some soldier pills with you! This is not something you can simply brush aside! If you go to training tomorrow and tell them that in addition to not being able to make a decent shot at climbing that pole and not knowing how to do a single jutsu, you can't even do taijutsu! They'll suspect that something is up! There's no way any of them will believe that the so-called heir to the Hyuuga clan does not even know how to do his clan's infamous taijutsu style! I need to teach you the basics of the Gentle Fist, at the very least!"

"Oh, I suppose y-you're right… I'll get the p-pills…"

She vanished inside her tent for a moment, but returned a moment later carrying the small bottle filled with soldier pills she'd taken with her from home. She popped one into her mouth, and almost instantly felt a surge of energy flowing through her as her chakra was replenished.

"O-Okay… I'm ready now," she told her nine-tailed furry companion.

Usagi squeaked happily, and hopped up and down on top of Kurama's head to express her enthusiasm.

"Stupid rabbit! Get off me!" Kurama snapped, flicking one of his many tails on top of his head to shove Usagi off. Then he turned his attention back to Hinata. "All right, hurry up! The sooner I teach you the basics, the sooner I can teach you some of the secret techniques in your clan. If you don't show everyone at least one of those skills during your taijutsu training, you can guarantee they'll start getting suspicious of you."

And with that, he trotted off in the direction of the training grounds, leaving Hinata no choice but to follow tiredly after him.

* * *

Sure enough, Kurama's prediction turned out to be correct. The next morning, after another attempt at chakra control to retrieve the kunai at the top of the pole, which everyone once again failed to reach, they were immediately tested on their taijutsu skills.

"All right, you spineless, pale, pathetic lot!" shouted Sasuke to the recruits. "It's time to see what you all can do in terms of hand-to-hand combat! We'll each be sparring with you to see how you rank. Keep in mind, this is strictly a basic spar, and no other jutsus are allowed! Try one during a match, and you'll be severely punished!"

The men all nodded in acceptance, and started forming three separate single file lines in front of Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara to spar with whichever one they liked best.

Seeing those in her age range who truly hated her get into Gaara and Sasuke's lines, Hinata quickly squeezed her way into Naruto's line to avoid them all. She didn't particularly mind. Naruto had been very kind to her so far. Even if she didn't do very well, which she knew she wouldn't, she felt he wouldn't be cruel to her. He might even be able to help her somehow! Kurama had taught her the basics of her clan's fighting style late last night, and even was able to teach her the beginnings of one of the main branch's secret techniques, a variant of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms known as the Thirty-Two Palms, but it was difficult to train in the Gentle Fist unless she was actually sparring with someone and she could use her bloodline limit of the Byakugan to see another person's tenketsu points in their chakra pathway systems.

When it was finally her turn, she settled herself into the traditional Gentle Fist opening stance of a slightly bent right leg and fully extended left leg, and a fully straight up left palm in front of her while her right arm was behind her and slightly bent, but the palm was flat and ready, too. Her stance was stiff however from how nervous she was, but she mentally prayed that she wouldn't do too badly. She knew she had no chance to win this basic match, but she hoped that she wouldn't embarrass herself further in front of everyone. So long as she showed off the one secret technique Kurama had been kind enough to teach her during the crash course last night, hopefully they wouldn't continue to consider her as the worst recruit here.

Taking a quick moment to make a hand sign and to activate her Byakugan, the veins around both of her eyes bulged out as a visible sign that she was ready to begin, and Hinata took careful note of how she could see the various tenketsu points in Naruto's body. Before last night, Hinata very seldom chose to activate her Byakugan, as there had been no point to do so as she was not a ninja. Neji was the one who used his Byakugan on an almost daily basis while training in the clan dojo. As a woman, Hinata only ever watched him spar, but did not join him. The only reason her father even allowed her to learn how to activate her bloodline limit was because she was the clan heiress, and as heiress, when she married into another clan, she would have to prove to her betrothed's family that she was capable of passing her bloodline traits to her hypothetical future son. If there was one reason that she was glad to have been born as the future heiress of the Hyuuga clan, it was because of that reason alone. If she hadn't, there was no way she would have known how to activate her Byakugan for this fight, and that was an advantage that she sorely needed.

Naruto took note of the unnatural stiffness in her stance due to how nervous she was, and actually smiled at her as he sunk down into a common taijutsu stance. "Relax, Hiro. Once you find your center, you're sure to win!"

Hinata blinked, not understanding what that meant exactly, but nodded anyway to make it seem like she did.

"I'm r-ready, sir…" she said shakily.

"All right, then! Bring it!"

Naruto made the first move. He ran forward and tried to throw a punch at Hinata, and Hinata struggled to dodge the relatively simple attack. She forced some chakra into her palms, and tried to strike some tenketsu points at his shoulder. Naruto saw what she was trying to do, and nimbly leapt out of the way before aiming a kick at her stomach. Hinata wasn't able to move out of the way in time, and his foot connected hard with her sternum. She groaned a bit in slight pain, but remained standing as she made a palm strike at his arm. This attack landed, thankfully, and Naruto winced a bit as he felt his chakra points being sealed up. Years of experience of dealing with pain kept him going, though, and he aimed another fast punch at her.

Hinata ducked under the attack and tried to bring her body together in the special stance for the Thirty-Two Palms technique Kurama had showed her last night, but it was revealed to be a simple feint, as he then used his other hand to punch her right in the face.

Hinata yelped in pain as she felt his fist connect with her cheek, and she fell backwards on the ground, unable to remain standing. She stayed on the ground and bowed her head to express her shame. She had lost, and within three minutes of starting the duel, too.

Those who had been watching the match from the sidelines roared in raucous laughter. Everyone had already figured out for themselves that 'Hiro' wasn't exactly a top class ninja like his famed cousin Neji was said to be, but this match only sealed the deal for their Hyuuga comrade.

Despite being the heir to the infamous Hyuuga clan, known throughout the years to produce legendary ninjas, Hiro Hyuuga just didn't live up to his family name.

"Oh, wow! What a weakling!" Kankuro shouted in between bouts of hysterical laughter.

"I've never seen anyone fail that badly!" Choji guffawed, nursing his stomach as he laughed himself silly.

"It is difficult to believe that our comrade is the so-called heir of a prestigious clan," Shino declared, his stoic expression faltering as he snickered behind one of his hands at the witnessed failure.

"The flames of youth definitely do not burn bright in our young friend!" said Lee, slapping his knees as thick tears flowed from his eyes.

"I said it before, guys! Hyuuga trash! Trash is worthless!" roared Kiba, actually falling to the ground and pounding the grass with his fists as he struggled to breath from how hard he was laughing.

Hinata's eyes burned with unshed tears as she sadly stood back up. She bowed respectfully to Naruto before sullenly making her way back in line, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't see right through her and realize that the reason why she was so weak was because she was actually a girl. Why oh why couldn't she do anything right? She was not only humiliating herself with her continuous failures, she was disgracing her entire clan, too. She was truly a disappointment to her father not only as his daughter, but even as his nonexistent son. What she wouldn't give to be able to prove herself to everyone somehow…

Unlike the rest of the troops who were laughing at the defeated Hyuuga or Sasuke and Gaara who were shaking their heads in disapproval of how weak he was, Naruto was frowning sadly after 'Hiro's' retreating form. He knew exactly what it felt like to be laughed at like that by everyone. Just as Sasuke had said, he had been labeled the dead last in his age group back when he was training to be a ninja at the Imperial Ninja Academy back when he was a boy. He had struggled to do anything right during his days in class, despite how hard he worked, and whenever he screwed up, everyone would laugh at him, just as how everyone was laughing at Hiro now.

In truth, Hiro reminded Naruto a bit of himself back then.

He only hoped that the Hyuuga heir would improve as training progressed. He didn't want to have to send Hiro home, but he also didn't want to send an innocent man to his death simply because he couldn't keep up with the training program.

* * *

Two weeks passed, and Hinata's ninja skills barely improved at all.

Every morning, there would be a brief test of chakra control for all the men, and they were all given another chance to retrieve the kunai at the top of the tall pine pole. A few of the ninjas were able to climb a few more inches up the pole, but they were still not even halfway up the tall structure. Hinata managed to get her chakra to work so that she could stick to the pole for at least a few steps before tumbling off again, but she was still nowhere near the kunai slashes in the wood far above her own marks that the other men made on a daily basis when they attempted to retrieve the special tri-pronged kunai.

At night, Kurama continued to train Hinata in the basics of the Gentle Fist, and taught her more of the secret ninja skills that were taught exclusively to members of the main branch in the Hyuuga clan. The one technique she struggled with the most was the infamous Rotation, the Hyuuga's perfect defense. No matter how many times Kurama explained the principles of the jutsu and she practiced, she just couldn't do it right. That was when she started getting ideas. If she couldn't do the Rotation very well, a technique that focused solely on defense alone, why couldn't she make up something that would suit her instead, and be both defensive _and_ offensive? Plus, she knew she didn't have much power behind her attacks whenever she sparred with someone, so why not use her chakra to amplify her attacks, but at the same time, drain her opponent's chakra as well? She explained her ideas for her two original jutsus to Kurama, who for once actually seemed genuinely interested in what she was saying. Now the nightly training sessions had three main focuses: training in the taijutsu art of the Gentle Fist, learning the secret Gentle Fist attacks, and working on developing Hinata's two original Gentle Fist techniques.

In addition to all the ninjutsu and taijutsu training in the daytime and Hinata's Gentle Fist training at nighttime, the troops were also taught how to dispel genjutsus, and for those of them that had a talent in the illusionary ninja art, they were given scrolls on how to perform higher level genjutsus. Hinata only barely managed to pass this test. For the first few several days, she struggled to dispel the illusions that the Uchiha trainer tested her with, and it was only after her sixth attempt that she was finally able to recognize and break herself out of the various types of false realities. Others in her age range were able to dispel the illusions after only two or three tries, and added this to their reasons to mock her for not being able to do it like them.

Then there was learning how to use and dodge kunais with explosive tags attached. Thankfully for the young misfit heiress, she wasn't the only person in camp who did horribly and got injured during this particular training. Most of the men in her age range struggled to outrun the kunais that were thrown at them, and more than one had to go to the medical tent after every practice for advanced healing from the medic nin's on staff to treat them for injuries. Thankfully for Hinata, the only bad injury she suffered was a particularly bad burn on her forearm, and only needed to push up the sleeve of her flak jacket for it to be healed and didn't need to take off all her clothes.

Others weren't so lucky. Kiba ended up tripping at one point while dodging a tag, and ended up in the first aid tent for two days from failing to dodge the minor explosion left behind. Later, when he returned to training as good as new, Hinata overheard him grumbling about the training schedule to his friends.

"Ugh! None of us are ever gonna catch our breath with the rate they're working us! We might as well say goodbye to those who knew us back home!"

His dog Akamaru whined sympathetically as he laid his head in his lap while his friends patted him on the back. Hinata felt bad for the Inuzuka clansmen, but she didn't dare to try and comfort him. She knew if she did, she would only be opening the floodgates for further humiliation and abuse.

But even though she tried to stay out of their way, the others still made it part of their daily schedule to harass her even further. The worst case of this was when Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara trusted them all enough to try throwing kunai with explosive tags attached. At first, the training progressed as usual. The men all threw the kunais at the target dummy's provided, and would then make the special hand sign to make the seal explode when it reached the target.

Hinata's aim at throwing kunais had improved a tiny bit since the first day of training, but she was still considered below average in her rate of hitting the exact center of the targets. Still, she had improved enough that she wasn't completely missing the target every time she threw her kunai. Upon realizing that it was safe to be near her now while she trained, nosy Ebisu had wandered closer to her with his clipboard as he studied and made notes on his important clipboard of everyone's progress.

Lee had noticed that she hadn't embarrassed herself yet today, and set off to rectify that at once. Under the pretense of needing a new batch of explosive tags to attach to his kunais, he had oh-so-casually walked past Hinata as he approached the bin with the tags inside, and as she was preparing her aim to throw her newest kunai at the target, he whistled a small tune rather innocently, and then 'accidentally' bumped into her as she threw the throwing knife and made the hand sign to make the tag go off.

Hinata watched in complete horror as her kunai sailed way off course, and instead headed straight towards the alarmed Ebisu. Dropping his clipboard and making a hand sign of his own, the advisor did a quick Shunshin technique, and disappeared from the spot only to reappear a safe distance away as the tag exploded in midair.

Everyone, especially Lee, laughed hard as Ebisu chewed out the flustered Hinata, who was repeatedly stammering out her deepest, most heartfelt apologies she could to the enraged man who looked about ready to blow a gasket right then and there.

Then there was the day that Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara had everyone go on a long hike up the mountains to build up their endurance levels with leg weights attached to her ankles. Ebisu was far too proud to do this, and elected to ride a horse as he jotted down more notes about the men's progress during the hike, but Shikamaru and Kakashi both chose to participate in this training, despite how annoying and troublesome it could be. Rock Lee actually had to increase the weights around his legs, as it was revealed to everyone that he was already wearing extremely heavy weights to build up his strength and increase his speed underneath his orange leg warmers.

"Come on, everyone! Be a man!" Naruto shouted out encouragingly as they continued the long hike to the top of the mountain.

"Keep it moving, people!" Sasuke added. "We must all be swift as a coursing river, and have all the force of a great typhoon!"

"And with all the strength of a raging fire!" Gaara added over his shoulder at everyone.

"That's right men! Time is racing toward us! Those Sound bastards could arrive at any moment! Heed our every order, and you all might survive!" Naruto shouted.

There were a few grunts from the men in agreement as they tried to pick up the pace. This was hard work for them all, but it was manageable. They were all men. They could deal with having thirty pounds each attached to both of their legs.

Well, all except one man, that is.

Ebisu had been glancing over his shoulder to see how well the men were progressing, but noticed one particular man struggling far behind the main group as he walked unsteadily forward with the weights attached to his legs. He distinctively cleared his throat to catch Naruto's attention.

"Captain!" he hissed.

Naruto fought the urge to give the snooty Closet Pervert a good sneer as he emotionlessly glanced over at him. Ebisu just wordlessly motioned with his pen to take a look over his shoulder. Naruto did so, and saw 'Hiro' staggering about as he struggled to lift one weighted down foot after the other and catch up to everyone further up the mountain path. He looked horrible, what with the heavy circles of sleep deprivation surrounding his eyes and the numerous minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises adorning his arms from doing so poorly every day in training.

Quite suddenly, Hiro tripped over a small stone on the path. It was so small, anyone else would have been able to keep walking after only a moment's delay, but Hiro went crashing down to the ground. With a determined grunt, he tried to force himself stand back up again and keep moving, but his legs gave out beneath him, and he tumbled back down.

"Do something about it, _Uzumaki!"_ Ebisu lightly snapped.

This time, Naruto shot Ebisu a cold glare for both the name he had called him, but also for demanding that he do something about Hiro. Hiro was trying. He was trying so hard to be a good ninja, and his efforts were going completely unappreciated. Still though, he couldn't just let the man stay there on the ground like that. He had to help him out.

He sighed, and turned to look over at Sasuke and Gaara. "Be back in a minute," he muttered. His friends nodded to him, and Naruto turned around, and moved his way past the men marching slowly up the path to get to Hiro.

Hinata was struggling to get her legs to work. No matter how much she tried, the muscles in her legs were unused to the continuous workouts and exercises she had been going through on a daily basis for the past two weeks, and now, at the worst time ever, they had suddenly given out completely on her. She groaned as she attempted to stand up again. She had to keep going! She was strong! She could do this! She just had to try harder! But again, her legs gave away, and she hit the earth harshly when she fell.

Beneath her flak jacket, she heard Kurama growl as he lightly smacked her back with one of his tails. "Get up, Girl! The Captain is coming!" he growled.

From one of the many pockets in her flak jacket, her little rabbit friend Usagi wiggled and squeaked encouragingly to her to hurry and stand up.

Hinata gasped and looked up. Sure enough, Naruto was standing in front of her, gazing down at her sadly.

"Here, I'll lessen the load," he offered before bending down and adjusting the leg weights.

Hinata's mouth went dry, and she opened her mouth to tell him that that wasn't necessary, but he just held up a hand to silently tell her not to speak. She thickly gulped and hung her head as he took fifteen pounds each off of both her weights, and wordlessly added them to his own before running to catch up with the rest of the men.

Hinata's cheeks flushed bright red over the momentary skin contact he had with her ankles, but as soon as she overcame that, she wanted so badly to cry. She was horribly ashamed of herself. No one else there needed to have the weights around their legs decreased because they were so weak…

Kurama was silent for once as he felt Hinata's shoulder shake with suppressed sorrow. Despite how rude and arrogant he usually was towards others and generally cared only for himself, he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel the tiniest bit bad for Hinata right now….

Naruto frowned as he hurried up the path after the others. Hiro might be a Hyuuga, but he simply just wasn't cut out for the life of war. Despite how much the young man was trying to keep up with the pace of training and be as good as everyone one else, Naruto couldn't help but feel that if he allowed him to stay and keep training, he would be killed the first day they joined his father and godfather out on the front lines and partook in their first battle. He didn't want to send Hiro blindly to his death simply because he wasn't as good a ninja as the others…

The best course of action was to simply send him home.

* * *

Later that night, Hinata was walking sadly through the campgrounds in a slight daze. She had endured a horrible dinner with the rest of the recruits as they continuously mocked and belittled her for being the only person who had struggled during the mountain hike that day. They had called her so many humiliating things:

 _Weak._

 _Scum._

 _Embarrassment._

 _Pathetic._

 _Worthless._

It seemed that no matter where she went or what she did, Hinata would never be accepted for simply doing the best she could. Why was she born as a constant failure no matter how hard she strived to succeed?

"Hey, Hiro!"

Hinata snapped out of her thoughts and spun around, only to become completely confused. Naruto was walking up to her with a rather guilty expression on his face, and was leading Rin by his reins. All of her supplies and her tent had been packed up, and he was carrying her knapsack in his free hand as he approached.

Hinata blinked in surprise as he stopped in front of her. What was going on? Why had he packed up her things and saddled up Rin like this?

"S-Sir?"

Naruto hung his head, finding it difficult to say the words he knew he had to tell 'Hiro.' Finally, he simply handed the Hyuuga his horse's reins and blurted it right out.

"Go home, Hiro."

Hinata stared at him for several seconds, not believing what Naruto had just told her.

"W-What…?"

Naruto sighed as he ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair. "Look, let's both be honest here. It's obvious you're unsuited for the rage of war," he said in a rather guilty tone of voice. "I… I might be the Captain of the troops here, Hiro, but the last thing I want is to send an innocent man to the front lines if it's obvious he can't handle the ninja life… So go home. Go home and live a long life…"

"C-Captain!" Hinata gasped, horrified by what he was ordering her to do. "Please! I'll… I'll do b-better in training! If… If you send me h-home now, my entire clan will be d-disgraced!"

"Don't worry about it. Just have your cousin Neji come instead. He can bring plenty of honor to your family. The Hyuuga clan won't be dishonored so long as there is a Hyuuga fighting in this war."

"Captain N-Naruto, I beg of you… don't send m-me home…"

Naruto sighed. He hated doing this to Hiro, but this wasn't like the days at the Imperial Ninja Academy where boys could have all the time they needed to improve their skills until they were battle ready. This was war, and the war wouldn't wait for Hiro to improve at his unusually slow pace. If he stayed, Naruto was certain that he would die. He was better off just going home and sending his cousin back in his stead.

"Hiro, this is a direct order from your commanding officer. _Go home."_

And with that, Naruto shot Hinata one last sad look, and then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his black pants before wandering off.

Hinata's eyes flooded with tears as she absorbed what Naruto had ordered her to do. She was to go back home. She had disgraced her clan even more by failing to stay a soldier in the army. Despite her efforts to protect her father, she was being sent back home to him. As soon as she turned up at the Hyuuga compound and explained to everyone what had happened, two things would happen. The first was that her father would finally follow the clan elder's advice by branding her with the caged seal of the branch family and officially strip her of her title as the clan heiress, and then he would leave for the war himself. He would not allow Neji to come here now if he hadn't allowed him to come before. He would come here, train with the others, and then die on the front lines. And this time, there was nothing she could do about it…

Rin saw his mistress's eyes water as the tears flowed down her face, and he gently butted his head against her shoulder in a vain attempt to cheer her up. Hinata gently patted his neck, but didn't look at her trusty horse as she began slowly leading him to the entrance of the campgrounds. Her mind was a swirling mess of jumbled thoughts, and she didn't want any sympathy from her companion at this exact moment. Right now, she just wanted to cry and feel depressed.

As she walked, the shadow of something tall and large swept over her head, and she stopped and turned to see what it was. The enormous pine pole was towering over her petite body, and the metal of Naruto's tri-pronged kunai was glinting in the moonlight.

For a long moment, Hinata stood there as she stared up at the seemingly unattainable weapon. In the few weeks that she had been here at camp, no one had managed to make it past the halfway mark on the pole. Everyone boasted at dinner each night about being the one who would prove themselves to the Captain and Co-Captains by being the one to retrieve the kunai at dawn the next morning, but every morning, they failed and would grumble away at their failure before stepping aside and watching the other's take their daily shot at reaching it.

They wanted the glory of the prize, but didn't want to put the effort in that was required to attain it.

Hinata immediately dried her eyes as a look of pure determination spread quickly across her face. She wanted to prove to everyone that she was not weak. This wasn't just about protecting her family anymore, now she wanted every man in this training camp who believed her to be a hopeless failure to see that she was worth something! She was not weak! She was a descendant of the Hyuuga clan, one of the most famous ninja clans in all of Japan, and if she was going to have to leave, she would leave with a bang!

With a firm, unwavering nod to herself, Hinata led Rin over toward a fencepost a short ways off, and tied him loosely to the post in case she would still be kicked out of the camp come morning. She only paused to retrieve a kunai and her small capsule of soldier pills from her knapsack should she need some while she did this, and then strolled purposefully up to the pole.

She paused momentarily to form the hand sign to channel her chakra. The first time she did this during training on the first day, she hadn't had much faith in herself. That was the key difference between her first attempt and this attempt. Confidence. Well, every part of her now was filled to the possible breaking point in confidence. She could do this! She could climb this pole using nothing but her feet and get that kunai! She knew she could!

She felt the surge of chakra flow through her body again, and she forced it to reside solely in the bottoms of her feet as she clutched her kunai tightly. Then she ran straight forward at the pole.

She darted up a few inches past her previous marks low on the pole, but felt the energy shove her off the pole after a few seconds, and she quickly made a slash mark at her progress point before somersaulting backwards to land rather gracefully on the ground. She nodded to herself. She was making progress! She was already further along than she had been this morning at three feet on the pole. Now, she just had to finish running up the remaining twenty-nine meters and seven feet.

As the night wore on, Hinata continued to try and reach the kunai. Her progress was slow but steady, and pretty soon, she had long passed not only the slashes in the wood her fellow comrades made on a daily basis when trying their luck every morning, but she had made it past the halfway mark on the pole, too. Whenever her chakra would run low, she would stop for a few moments to swallow a soldier pill and let her chakra replenish, and would then continue her endeavor.

She was as swift as a coursing river.

 _Slash!_ Fifteen meters up the pole.

She had all the force of a great typhoon.

 _Slash!_ Twenty meters up the pole.

She had all the strength of a raging fire.

 _Slash!_ Twenty-five meters up the pole.

She was almost there! It didn't matter how hard this training was or how long it took. She would be the one to get that kunai!

As Hinata struggled to overcome the last five meters up to the kunai, red and yellow rays of dawn crept up past the faraway horizon line, and the men in camp slowly began to wake up and sleepily exit their tents. As they all made their way to the food tent for a quick breakfast before they began their morning training, they all went rigid with shock when they saw the misfit Hyuuga almost reaching the kunai. Every single one of ninja recruits forgot all about their rumbling stomachs as they gathered around the pole to watch.

At that moment, every single one of the younger generation of shinobi forgot all about their petty hatred for 'Hiro' as they watched him try again and again to reach the kunai.

Kiba and Kankuro's mouths were agape.

Shino was grinning at Hiro's success.

Choji and Lee were silently cheering him on.

Hiro was almost there! Just another few feet, and he'd be at the top of the pole and could retrieve the kunai!

Hinata ignored her crowd of onlookers, and chose to tune out their awestruck murmurs. She couldn't afford to lose her focus! She was low on chakra, sleep deprived, and her entire body was sticky with sweat. One wrong move while doing this and she could lose her concentration and fall almost thirty meters from the ground and break her neck instead of landing on her feet when coming back down.

She grunted in frustration as she squeezed the handle of her kunai tightly. She'd been struggling to overcome the last five feet up the pole for over fifteen minutes now. She was almost there! She could do this! Just five more measly feet! She brought her hands together to form the hand sign again, felt her chakra gather back down at the bottoms of her feet, and took off running at the pole.

The men cheered as they watched Hinata climb the pole. For a long, hopeful moment, everyone thought maybe she would reach it this time as she managed to pass her highest scratch mark and stretch out her hand toward the kunai, but at the very last second, the chakra shoved her off the pole, and she made a quick slash onto the wood with her kunai to mark her progress before back flipping off the pole. She had managed to run up another six inches. Only four more feet and six inches left!

As she prepared to land, however, her tired eyes miscalculated the amount of distance she had between herself and the ground, and she mistimed her landing. She slipped and landed hard on her side onto the grass.

Unlike her previous failures before, the men did not laugh at her this time. Instead, those who had humiliated her before gathered around to see if 'Hiro' was okay.

"Hiro! Dude!" said Kankuro.

"Are you okay, man?" asked Choji, sounding concerned and kind for once as he offered his hand to help his comrade back up. "That looked like it really hu—"

He was cut off by Hinata suddenly slapping his hand away.

"Don't help me!" she snapped in her scruffy male voice.

Everyone stared in wonder as the Hyuuga slowly got back up on his own, and for the first time that morning, they all got a good look at him.

In addition to panting heavily from both physical exhaustion and near chakra depletion, 'Hiro' had dark circles around his bloodshot eyes that rivaled those of Gaara's, and he was covered from head to toe in sweat, dirt, and grass stains. There was a small cut near his hairline from his harsh fall on the ground, and a thin trickle of blood was running down the center of his forehead, down the expanse of his nose, and bloodying up his teeth. All in all, he looked like quite a mess, and it startled them all to see him this way.

"Hiro… have you been at this all night?" asked Kiba, unable to hide his shock from his voice.

Hinata threw him a quick scowl as she reached into the pocket of her flak jacket for her bottle of soldier pills. "What's it to you?! You don't even like me anyways!" she snapped.

As Kiba flinched back a few steps from the harsh but truthful words, she unscrewed the lid on the bottle and prepared to shake out one of the tiny pills, but a sturdy hand suddenly clamped down on her shoulder.

"How many of those have you taken?" Shino demanded, his voice laced with uncharacteristic worry.

"None of your business!" she growled.

She tried to toss one of the pills into her mouth, but Shino's grip on her shoulder only tightened.

"Hiro, are you not aware of the fact that it is highly dangerous to—?"

He was cut off by Hiro suddenly punching him hard in the jaw.

Everyone's jaws dropped as Shino went crashing to the ground from the force of the punch. They were beyond shocked. Hyuugas were strictly Gentle Fist users. They did not punch people. They stuck to chakra enhanced palm strikes. The fact that Hiro had struck him like that was astonishing.

Fueled by adrenaline, the desire to prove herself to everyone, and built-up anger from all the injustices she had endured here at this training camp since the moment she had arrived, she glared coldly down at the bug user, and managed to speak her next words without stuttering once.

"Don't pretend as though you all suddenly care about my well being! From the day I first got here you have all hated me… and for what?! Because of a stupid fight and dealing with the punishment afterwards?!"

Kiba and Kankuro exchanged guilty looks.

Choji looked away in shame.

Lee took several steps backwards in surprise.

Shino just stared at her with his jaw slightly agape as he slowly stood back up.

"You have all hated me, taunted me, and treated me as though I'm worth less than dirt! So don't act as though you care all of the sudden whether or not I'm okay! I told myself that I would get that kunai, and that's exactly what I'm going to do! I don't care what it takes!"

And with that, Hinata tossed the small soldier pill in her mouth, turned her attention back to the pole, and tried again.

Everyone stared in shock as the Hyuuga descendant managed to run up another few inches, make another slash into the wood, and land shakily in front of them again, panting and out of breath, and then went right back at it again.

"I'm getting Captain Naruto," Lee said suddenly to his friends as they watched 'Hiro' slip during his descent and groan as he landed hard on his side again. "If he doesn't meet an unyouthful demise by swallowing too many soldier pills first, he's definitely going to hurt himself, at the very least!"

His friends nodded, but didn't dare look away from Hinata as she continued her determined run up the pole when Lee took off. None of them had ever realized that the quiet 'man' had such fiery spirit within him.

Lee returned minutes later all but dragging Naruto behind him. Sasuke and Gaara were storming along angrily right behind them because of Lee's lack of propriety for treating a higher ranked superior officer, and Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Ebisu took up the rear.

Naruto was snapping obscenities at the top of his lungs at Lee for being manhandled in this way.

"What the hell are you doing, Lee?! Let go of me now!"

"Just hurry up, Captain! You have to see this!"

Naruto was about to start yelling at Lee, but then he saw the crowd gathered around the pine pole, and just who was running up it at top speed.

"Hiro?!" shouted Naruto in utter disbelief, shocked at what he was witnessing. He shook Lee's hand off his arm and ran forwards, shoving his way through the crowd to get a closer look. He wasn't the only one astounded. Sasuke's jaw was dropped, and Gaara was wide-eyed. Shikamaru was just staring in shock, and Kakashi's one visible eye was blinking twice to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Ebisu was just sputtering nonsense words, his brain still processing the stunt that Hiro was performing. They all charged forwards right at Naruto's heels. They, too, wanted a closer look and wanted to see if Hiro would indeed reach the kunai.

Naruto's mind was a scrambled mess. He had told Hiro late last night to go home and live a full life. Yet he had disobeyed his command. He really wasn't sure whether or not to be mad about that, though. He was too shocked by how high up Hiro had managed to run up the pole. Had he been working on this all night since he left him?

Hinata didn't realize that Naruto and the rest of the superior officers had arrived on the scene. She was far too focused. She had managed to brush her fingers against the very tip of the handle on her last run up the pole. She was just a hair's reach away! One more burst of chakra, and she would get it!

She panted hard from being close to near complete chakra exhaustion, and brought her hands together to form the hand sign to channel her spiritual energy again, but a voice stopped her.

"Hiro! How long have you been practicing this?!"

Hinata turned. Naruto was staring at her from his spot in the crowd, staring in absolute wonder at the recruit he had initially thought to be weak and unfit for war.

Hinata literally had to force her lips in order to answer him. "Since… Since you told me to go h-home last night…" she panted.

Heads turned in disbelief at 'Hiro's' words to stare at Naruto, but Naruto didn't meet anyone's gazes. He just continued to stare in shock at the Hyuuga standing in front of him.

"How is it you're not out of chakra yet…?" he breathed.

Hinata's lips slowly curled upwards to form an amused smile. "From popping s-soldier pill after soldier pill…" she wheezed tiredly.

Those words snapped Naruto out of his shock. "Are you insane?! Don't you know how dangerous it is to use too many of them at once?!" he nearly shouted in horror.

"Doesn't… Doesn't matter…" Hinata huffed, literally bending over forwards so as to hold her knees from how exhausted she was. "I… I told myself that I would get that kunai… And I'm going to do it, because… Because I never… I never go back on my word!"

The determined glint returned to her pearlescent eyes, and her face was focused as she turned her entire attention back toward the pole.

"Because that… That's my nindo, too! That's my ninja way!"

And with that, she channeled her chakra back down into her feet, and dashed forward and up the pole.

Everyone watched with baited breath as 'Hiro' climbed higher and higher. The distance between him and the kunai grew smaller and smaller until…

 _Snatch!_

Hinata seized hold of the tri-pronged kunai and moved even further upwards until she was standing at the very topmost part of the pine pole.

Every man in camp, young or old, weak or strong, burst out cheering as Hinata, panting and completely out of breath, took careful aim down below, and hurled the special kunai downwards to strike the ground precisely at Naruto's feet.

Naruto slowly picked up the kunai as a look of complete awe spread across his face. His mind had gone completely blank. Hiro Hyuuga, the dead last of the ninja recruits in the Allied Shinobi Forces, had achieved what many of the men here had deemed to be all but impossible. He had passed his test and had delivered him his father's kunai, proving to everyone in the process that nothing was impossible so long as you had the determination and willpower to try and accomplish a set goal. Perhaps he had been wrong about him. Maybe Hiro _was_ quality ninja material after all…

Hinata stood at the top of the pole for several moments as she soaked in the applause, feeling more than touched that she had finally earned the respect of her fellow shinobi, but then her energy seemed to sap out of her all at once. Her legs gave way underneath her, and she fell in a very near faint off the pole.

There were cries of alarm from everyone as they watched their comrade fall, and many men rushed forward so as to hopefully catch the Hyuuga before he possibly broke his neck on the ground, but Gaara was the quickest. His cork popped off his gourd faster than anyone could blink, and a great swirl of sand flew through the air, and safely caught 'Hiro' in midair.

Everyone breathed a great sigh of relief as the sand slowly descended, and gently set the ninja down on the ground. Naruto rushed forward as the man attempted to stand.

"Hiro! Hiro, are you all right?"

"I… I'm f-fine Sir — oof!" Hinata wheezed, her legs giving out beneath her again when she tried to fully stand back up.

Naruto bent down in front of her, and looked her right in the eye. "How many soldier pills did you swallow?" he asked seriously.

"Um… about s-six or seven…" she breathed tiredly, trying to rise yet again.

To her surprise, Naruto immediately forced her to remain sitting on the ground.

"Shit! No wonder you can barely stand! I told you, it's dangerous to take that many! Your body is probably spent!"

Hinata gazed at him through half-lidded eyes, staring at him, but barely even listening to what he was saying, but she snapped out of her drained daze when Naruto suddenly adjusted her so that he could carry her on his back.

"C-Captain?!" she spluttered, her face slowly turning bright red.

"I'm taking you to the first aid tent to rest. You're suffering from major chakra exhaustion! I'm actually surprised you're even still conscious!"

"B-But—"

"No arguments! You need to rest to replenish your chakra!"

He then turned and looked back out at the recruits still clustering around.

"As for the rest of you, start running up that pole, too! You all don't want to fall too far behind our top recruit here, do you?!"

Hinata's face became even brighter upon hearing that Naruto called her the best recruit at the camp as the rest of the men immediately nodded, and lined up in a single file line to tackle the pole and be the next man there to reach the top.

And with that, Naruto stood back up, and piggybacked Hinata in the direction of the first aid tent.

As they left, the men were still whooping and cheering after 'Hiro' for his triumphant success.

"Way to go, man!"

"Dude, you're awesome!"

"You're number one, Hiro!"

Hinata felt proud that they were all cheering her on for her success, but she was hardly focusing on their heartfelt words. Right now, her primary focus was on how embarrassed she was to have her face buried in the back of Naruto's neck, and how hot her face felt as he continued to carry her away from the group. She could literally feel her heart pounding in her chest as she inhaled the scent of regular generic soap clinging to his hair, and what smelled like traces of instant ramen on his clothes. This… This was all far too much for the poor flustered girl!

"Captain N-Naruto… I'm o-okay, I swear… I can walk…"

"Don't argue with me, Hiro! I'm carrying you there whether you like it or not! You stay on the cot in there and rest today, got it? Hopefully you're chakra will be fully replenished by tomorrow and you can join everyone in training again, then."

"T-Tomorrow? You mean… You mean you're n-not sending me back home anymore?"

Naruto was silent for a moment, but then he looked over his shoulder at Hinata and smiled.

"Believe it or not, I admit that I was wrong last night. You're a great ninja, Hiro, and you're going to do great things in this war! You should be proud to be the Hyuuga representative in the Allied Shinobi Forces!"

A smile spread across Hinata's face as she nuzzled her head into Naruto's back, her entire body surging with joy from hearing that Naruto truly believed in her now. For some reason, his acceptance and belief in her made her heart swell even more than that of having the support of the rest of the platoon. She felt oh so giddy with happiness.

"Thank you…" she whispered.

Naruto smiled at her again over his shoulder.

"No problem, Hiro. No problem at all…"

* * *

Far away from the training camp, at the base of the mountain region separating the Land of Earth from the Land of Iron, Orochimaru and his army were waiting. The snake traitor had sent his personal summoning snake up ahead a few hours ago to scan ahead for any sign of the main troops in the Allied Shinobi Forces. Many of the men, including his five generals, were growing rather restless from this long delay, but whenever he heard one of the men grumbling, Orochimaru's eyes would flash dangerously in the speaker's direction, silencing the man instantly. None of them wanted to risk angering their supreme leader.

Still, as time wore on, even Orochimaru was starting to get impatient. What was taking his snake summoning so long?

A rustle of movement suddenly resounded from a cluster of nearby rocks, and the snake-like man's head snapped around as his yellow eyes narrowed. He smirked rather wickedly as his snake slithered out from behind the rock formation, carrying something rather small in its jaws, and crawled up along his body. What good timing! And just when he was starting to consider summoning forth his ultimate summoning to find the first slow reptile!

The snake curled itself rather comfortably around his shoulders, and then unclamped its jaw to drop what it was carrying into his hand. Orochimaru's smirk grew even wickeder when he realized that it was simply a child's rag doll. He studied the simple object for a moment as he took in the clues that were lingering in the plush item about where it had come from. He recognized them at once, but the question was, would his five generals see them as well?

He turned his attention back to his snake, and stroked its head silkily with his other hand. "Good work," he said in what could be considered almost an affectionate coo.

The snake summon flicked its pink tongue and hissed lightly with joy from the compliment, not that his summoner actually cared.

Orochimaru turned to his generals, and all five of them immediately snapped to attention. He smirked, and tossed the doll over to Jirobo. "What do you see?" he demanded.

His overweight, orange-haired general ran his hands all over the rag doll and rubbed his fingers together. He examined the residue left behind on his hand, and recognized it to be the remnants of the bark of a tree. "Black pine… from the Land of Iron mountains!" he reported.

 _Location._

He tossed it over to Kidomaru, but as Kidomaru examined it, Sakon and Ukon, a set of conjoined twins and another member of the Sound Four with both their heads on one body, plucked a foreign white hair off its head and studied it carefully. Both heads sneered at the lone piece of hair once they realized what it was. "White horse hair," declared the one called Ukon.

Sakon nodded in agreement. "Shinobi stallions," he added.

 _Definite threat._

Kidomaru sniffed the doll, inhaling the scent of smoke ashes lingering to the plush toy. Then he turned back to Orochimaru. "Ashes, from explosive tags," he identified, handing it back over to their leader.

 _Severity of threat? Extremely high._

Orochimaru nodded, very pleased with their detective work, and glanced down at the doll in the palm of his hand. "This doll came from a village somewhere beyond the last open mountain pass between the Land of Earth and the Land of Iron, where the Allied Shinobi Forces are waiting for us," he announced to his men.

Kabuto's face broke out into a wicked smirk rivaling that of the snake summoner. "We can avoid them easily," he replied. Tayuya nodded in agreement. Going the long way around the mountains to avoid the main shinobi forces, even with their enormous army, would only delay them by an extra week.

But Orochimaru frowned at the suggestion, and shook his head. "No. The quickest way to the Kage's and Kage Regent is through that pass," he reminded him.

He stared down at the doll for another moment, tossing it up and down in his hand, and when he looked back up again at Kabuto and the Sound Four, his maniacal grin was once again spreading across his face.

"Besides," he hissed evilly. "The little girl will be missing her doll. We should return it to her…"

His generals all chuckled. That doll would be the last thing she would receive before his sword Kusanagi.


	5. The Days Gone By

**I should really be doing my homework instead of posting this chapter, so you should all be grateful that I'm a bit of a procrastinator, because you get this chapter a few days earlier than it would have been posted if I'd done my homework today instead of focusing on this. I will have to start working on it right after I'm done writing this AU note, though. I can't afford to flunk out of college! ToT**

 **I'm actually very proud of this chapter. It contains not only what I consider to be the funniest scene in all of canon Mulan, but there's some more NaruHina action! Please note though, this is a fanfiction of Naruto, and because of this, I have taken some liberties with some things that happened in the timeline of the anime/manga. It's very different, so I ask that you are all understanding of this. No spoilers, but things were changed in order to explain a bit more of Naruto's past in this Mulan AU Ninja World.**

 **I'd also like to mention that just like before, this chapter is currently unbetaed. Silken Danser has been busy lately and hasn't had the chance to critique my work, but she'll be back when her schedule clears up. When she does, this chapter will be updated with her edits. Silken, if you're reading this, you're still number one! :)**

 **It's now everyone's favorite time again! It's shout out time for all the wonderful readers who took the time to review Chapter Four:**

 **\- rk-tronix**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- BlueDragonz**

 **\- blukmage19r2 (x2)**

 **\- NH SHIPPER**

 **\- Guest (x3) (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- loveawkwardness**

 **\- gio08**

 **\- Naruhina4890**

 **\- kimmibers**

 **\- Kakau**

 **\- jonylol**

 **\- Miss Rizz**

 **Thank you all so much for your wonderful, heartfelt reviews! I hope you will all continue to write more reviews for this chapter! Every time I read receive an alert saying that I have a new review, I become so happy! You all make my day with your little messages! :)**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Please remember to review once you're done reading, Remember people, reviews are my motivation to keep writing this story! If you want chapters to keep coming out on a weekly basis, review down below and keep my creative juices flowing!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 5/11/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Five: The Days Gone By**

It had been three months since the beginning of the war, and the men in the shinobi training camp had vastly improved since the first few weeks of training. Ever since Hiro Hyuuga's amazing accomplishment of being the first one to use his chakra to climb to the top of the pine pole, all of the ninja recruits had been completely invigorated. His success was the living proof that all the tests that were being thrown at them by Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara could be achieved so long as they worked hard. Hiro had become an inspiration to everyone there, and the men advanced in leaps and bounds in their training.

Hiro Hyuuga, or rather, Hinata Hyuuga, also improved during those three months. After successfully being able to climb the pole, she became the first one to start learning how to use her chakra to walk on water. That training exercise took a painstakingly long time for her to accomplish, and there were several times during training that she ended up falling into the lake right near the edge of camp when she practiced this exercise. Not wanting anyone to be able to see her girlish hourglass figure whenever she got wet, she brushed aside everyone's advice to take her clothes off first before attempting this chakra control exercise, and made sure to keep her flak jacket on at all times as an extra bulky layer when practicing. It took her a week and a half, but she finally succeeded in doing it, and around the same time that the rest of the men in camp had finally been able to reach the top of the pole and were starting to learn it, too.

She also was starting to advance in other areas of training as well. She easily mastered the rather simple Substitution and Transformation jutsus, although the wind ninjutsu that Naruto had instructed her to learn, the Great Breakthrough, took a lot of time and effort to get down, but after a lot of hard work and effort, she finally managed to produce a great gust of wind to shoot out from her mouth that could obliterate both the practice log targets and even cut down enormous trees. She was very pleased with finally having mastered it, and she wasn't the only one that was proud. Instead of being jealous of her being the first one to master the new jutsu that the trainers had passed out, the rest of the troops celebrated her success, and even congratulated her.

Because she finished learning it so fast, Naruto had her take a chakra affinity test with a piece of chakra paper to see if maybe her chakra affinity was wind, just like him. Everyone had expected to see the paper slice in half revealing her to be indeed a wind user, but instead, the paper became soaking wet, revealing her affinity to be more inclined toward water elements instead. It surprised everyone, but Naruto was very understanding. He gave her a scroll with details on the C-Rank level Water Style jutsu called the Water Gunshot. It involved the user kneading their chakra and converting it into water, and then spitting it out rapidly from their mouth in the form of high speed water bullets. It was a very powerful offensive ninjutsu that could be used at any range, and the more chakra the ninja used when doing it, the more bullets there were all together and they became even larger and more powerful.

Hinata graciously accepted the jutsu, and set to work on learning it immediately, but just like when she was learning the Great Breakthrough, she struggled with it initially. In fact the first time she attempted to do it, she ended up going into a harsh coughing fit as she choked on the water that had gathered in her lungs. But unlike the first time she failed to do the Great Breakthrough correctly, the rest of the troops did not laugh at the disastrous first attempt. Instead, they encouraged her to keep trying, saying that it was only a matter of time before she mastered it. Hinata took their kind words to heart, and devoted all her efforts in the ninjutsu training to learning this technique. It took her some time of course, but eventually, she was able to get down the jutsu and shoot out great bullets of high flying water at various targets.

Her private nightly training sessions with Kurama in learning the taijutsu style of the Gentle Fist flourished, too. She was really starting to get the hang of the basic maneuvers in performing palm strikes and the footwork required to evade attacks. Her Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms attack also became more powerful with the additional practice, but she definitely struggled with applying the next step of the technique, which required her to double it again into the Sixty-Four Palms, the famous Hyuuga attack she was ultimately aiming for.

Although she struggled with that, her two original Gentle Fist attacks were progressing much better. Her variant of the Rotation was coming along quite well. During the two long months of training here at the ninja camp, Hinata quickly discovered that she was naturally flexible, so she wanted to use that to her advantage in her fighting style, and since she had learned to have precise control over her chakra, it was all but easy for her to continue her development on the technique. The plan for the jutsu was that it would serve as both a defensive measure, but at the same time have offensive capabilities. While channeling a constant stream of chakra to her hands, she would move her arms around in a circular motion at a very fast pace, and because of the chakra gathered in her hands, she could then shape the bands of chakra left behind in her palms' wake into thin, flexible blades that would be as sharp as a razor, and yet still strong as steel. The streams that rushed out would create an impenetrable barrier from all directions at once, and if someone were to be standing directly in range of the barrier, the attacker would be sliced in half easily. It would become the perfect defensive and offensive attack for her once it was completed.

She had also thought of the perfect name for this jutsu, too:

Protective Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms.

She had hit only one snag while working on it. It was difficult for her to keep the barrier maintained for more than a few short seconds. She would have to work on increasing her stamina so as to not be winded so easily.

Her other jutsu was faring much better, and was almost ready to be used in a sparring match against one of her fellow shinobi here at camp. Like she had initially planned when first thinking up the idea for the jutsu, she had developed a way for her to increase the power behind her attacks, but at the same time, drain her opponent's chakra network the moment she touched them. It was all due to her changing the shape of her chakra when she expelled it from her hands. Instead of just allowing her hands to glow dully with her normal light blue chakra, she warped the chakra in her hands to form that of two large, light blue guardian lion-shaped shrouds which engulfed both her hands. They were quite destructive whenever she used them to strike one of the training logs she generally practiced with, so Hinata could only imagine what they would do when pitted against another human being. It also required her to morph her chakra in a precise way and at an exact amount in order to use them at their full potential, because the slightest variation of chakra control would cause the chakra in her hands to either die away, or burn the palms of her hands, ultimately leading to failure.

Like with her first original technique, the young heiress had also thought up a name for this amazing technique:

Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists.

She was very proud of her two original jutsus, and couldn't wait to include them in her bag of tricks to use the next time she sparred with someone here at camp.

Speaking of sparring, thanks to all her hard work in her nightly training sessions with Kurama in improving her Gentle Fist taijutsu, she could now easily fight well against Naruto when they sparred during practice. She had even been able to land a good and powerful kick to his head during one particular match, knocking him down flat on his back. She had worried for a moment afterwards that maybe she'd get in trouble for striking the Captain that hard, but when Naruto got back up again, he had the biggest smile she had ever seen before on his face and proudly told her that she was ready for the next step in training: adding ninjutsus and genjutsus into the equation. Hinata still wasn't all that great in genjutsu, but luckily for her, neither was Naruto, and when they sparred again, they stuck to attacking each other with regular taijutsu again, but also adding a few choice ninjutsus into the mix, too. She ended up losing that rematch, but Naruto told her that she had still done a good job for a first try at adding ninjutsus into a fight, and that she had nothing to be ashamed of for not winning.

Captain Naruto was truly a kind and wonderful person, and as Hinata got to know him more, the more she ended up liking him. The fact that he reminded her of the little boy that had saved her from bullies back when she was a child was now becoming an afterthought to the reasons why she struggled not to turn red whenever she saw him. He always exuded an aura of kindness no matter what he did, and he was such a powerful shinobi. Whenever he helped her in training, he never got frustrated with her for not being able to do things right away like some of the others could. Instead, he tried to figure out what it was that she was having trouble with, and would then coach her through her mistakes. He was nice that way.

The fact that he was also quite handsome didn't hurt, either.

But right now, none of that even mattered, because right now, underneath the full moon of the dark night sky, Hinata was about to do the bravest, but still quite possibly dumbest thing she had ever done since arriving at this ninja training camp three months ago, and not even all the ninja skills in the world could help her in this dangerous endeavor.

She was about to take bath.

In the lake.

Right at the edge of camp.

Where anyone could walk by and see her.

Kurama was not pleased by her risky decision, and was making his concerns known to his human charge as he strolled alongside Hinata toward the lake.

"This is not a good idea, Girl! What if somebody sees you?!" he snapped.

Hinata gave her orange fox guardian an annoyed look as she carried a change of clothes, a towel over one arm, and a bar of soap in one hand, and led Rin by his reins in her other so he could have a nice long drink from the lake while she bathed.

"Kurama, I want a d-decent bath! Just because I look like a m-man doesn't mean I have to smell like one!"

"So a couple of guys don't rinse out their socks! Picky, picky, picky! I still say you're taking a stupid risk!"

"I c-can't keep rinsing off nightly with just a bucket of cold w-water in the cover of the nearby forest!" she argued. "And b-besides, I'm not being completely… completely dumb! It's nearly midnight; most of the men here are a-already asleep!"

"Not all, though! Anyone can walk by and see you!"

From atop Rin's back, tiny Usagi bleated in agreement as she hopped up and down.

"I'll chance it! I want to f-feel truly clean again!"

As they approached the lake, Hinata threw her bundle of clean clothes and her towel over Rin's back and set her bar of soap aside on top of a rock for a moment, and moved behind a tree to undress. As she removed the hair band from her indigo-colored hair to let it all down from its low ponytail and shrugged out of her white shirt so as to begin working on unraveling her breast bindings, Kurama continued to criticize her.

"You've come a long way in training since the first day. You've earned the respect of your fellow shinobi, and you're willing to throw it all away just because of your damn feminine hygiene?! You're quite possibly the stupidest woman I've ever met!"

Hinata threw her breast bindings and dirty shirt over the branch of the tree and poked her head out from around the concealing trunk momentarily to glare somewhat harshly at the nine-tailed fox.

"And you're quite p-possibly the rudest fox I've ever met! You might be my g-guardian on the battlefield and in training, Kurama, but you have no say at all in my p-personal cleanliness! I'm taking this bath w-whether you like it or not!"

She didn't wait for him to reply before vanishing back behind the tree and hurrying to slip out of her pants.

Kurama visibly scowled in the direction of the tree, but secretly, the fox spirit had to admit that he was impressed by how far Hinata had come in gaining self-confidence. The day he first introduced himself to her three months ago, she was a quiet thing that stuttered after every other word and was all but afraid of her own shadow. Now though, she still stuttered a bit, but thanks to forcing herself to speak all the time to her fellow shinobi while trying to stutter only once in her sentences, it had become a habit, and she spoke the same way when speaking with him, Rin, or Usagi now, and after that day when she pulled that stupid stunt with the pole climbing exercise and almost overdosing on soldier pills by accident, she had learned not to be afraid to speak her mind and possibly talk back if she got angry instead of just standing there and listening to both his, or her fellow ninja's verbal abuse. She was still naturally quiet and shy, and turned red whenever she became extremely embarrassed, but she had come a long way from the girl she had been when she first arrived at this ninja training camp.

She was slowly gaining his respect, and even though Kurama didn't want to admit it, he was also growing rather fond of her as a person in general. He would never actually tell her that, though. He had a reputation to uphold for not caring about humans, after all!

"C-Close your eyes, Kurama. I'm getting in the w-water now."

Kurama snapped out of his thoughts, and shot one last annoyed look at the tree Hinata was hiding behind before flicking forward one of his many tails around his body to cover his eyes.

Upon poking her head out again and checking to see that the fox's eyes were indeed covered, Hinata shyly stepped out from around the tree with her arms crossed firmly over her oversized chest so as to preserve her modesty. She had to admit, having her breasts unbound from their bindings felt very good. She had gradually gotten used to the feeling of keeping them bound up every day for the past three months, but letting them out of their wrappings like this was like a weight off her shoulders. Just for a few minutes, she could fully drop the masculine act she was forced to portray while outside her tent and could be a girl again. It was such a nice change.

She hurriedly snatched the bar of soap she'd set aside on the small boulder, and dove completely into the lake, sending a small wave of water splashing over Kurama and making him splutter as he shook from side to side like a dog to get rid of the water droplets clinging to his fur.

Hinata paid her fox guardian no mind as she resurfaced from the depths of the lake. She sighed in absolute delight. This was truly heaven! She had had more luxurious baths before back at the Hyuuga compound in the large bathrooms reserved exclusively for members of the main branch, where she had lathered her skin in expensive oils and used sweet smelling shampoos for her hair. However, considering that she was covered in sweat and dirt from a long day spent training here at a ninja war camp and had spent many nights sleeping in a flimsy tent, a simple bath here in the lake with just a small bar of generic soap felt like total paradise.

The young heiress hummed lightly to herself as she brought the bar of soap up to her head, and began lathering her hair with soapy bubbles. Then she dipped back down into the pool and rinsed before popping back up, and started scrubbing away at the dirt coating her arms before splashing the refreshingly cool water over them to wash away the foam. She squealed with joy when she was finished. She was clean again from taking a decent bath! She felt absolutely giddy with happiness.

Kurama huffed at her feminine display. "Okay, okay! That's enough, you're clean! Now hurry and get out before you get all pruny and shit!" he growled.

Hinata just lazily turned her head to look at him and smiled happily. She was far too relaxed to get angry right now. "Kurama, if y-you're so worried, go stand watch," she told her worried companion. "I haven't h-had a bath in so long. Let me soak for a f-few more minutes…"

Kurama growled as he stormed angrily towards the boulder where Hinata had left the soap on while Usagi hopped down from Rin's back to stand beside him. After a few moments, Kurama began snarling in a rather cruel imitation of Hinata's voice.

"' _Stand watch, Kurama, while I blow our secret with my stupid girly habits!'"_ he mimicked, causing both Usagi and Rin to glare at him. He pouted at seeing them angry at him for simply being worried. "Hmph! Hygiene…"

Rin snorted angrily, and was about to stamp one of his hooves to further express how angry he was with Kurama for badmouthing his mistress like that, but there was a sudden sound of people whooping and cheering as they approached. All three of Hinata's animal companions whirled around. Kiba, Kankuro, Lee, and Choji were all acting boisterously as they ran at top speed toward the lake, followed quickly by Shino who chose to be silent as he joined his friends at a brisk jog. They were all stripping off their clothes as they ran and tossing them about in every direction in their rush to both wash up and have some fun.

Rin whinnied in panic as Kurama and Usagi dove into the cover of some reeds to avoid being seen.

" _Fuck!_ We're doomed!" the fox spirit hissed, sounding absolutely panicked for once. "There are a few things that I _know_ they're bound to notice!"

Usagi squeaked worriedly and asked in rabbit language what they were going to do.

"Give me a minute! I'll think of something!"

* * *

Hinata looked up when she heard the rowdy shouts and laughter. She immediately became fearful and dropped her bar of soap into the depths of the lake. Her peaceful, refreshing bath was about to interrupted by some of her fellow ninjas. And not just any ninjas, but the ones who had made her first two weeks at camp a living hell. Of all the luck!

Since her stunt with the pine pole, she had managed to avoid the five of them completely during training, even though they had tried to seek her out many times. She didn't know whether they still wanted to bully her not, but she still didn't want to be around them. For one, they never actually did apologize to her for how they had treated her back then, but she wasn't one to hold a grudge. The real reason she stayed out of their way was because she was ashamed at how she had snapped at them that day at the pine pole. Granted, she'd finally hit her breaking point with all of them at the time, and her reasons were justified for standing up for herself and finally telling them 'enough!'. She had been so upset about the fact that she was facing the probability of being kicked out of camp, not to mention being physically spent, low on chakra, and sleep deprived, that she took her defiance against them way too far. After all, in normal circumstances, she never ever would have punched Shino the way she did!

But none of that mattered now.

What mattered was that they were all naked.

They were coming into the lake.

She was in the lake.

And she was naked, too.

Her face became as red as a cherry as she squeaked in embarrassment, sunk down as deep as she could into the water to keep the aspects of her body that proved that she was female rather than male hidden from eyesight, and reached around to snatch a lily pad off the surface of the water and held it up to hide both her face from all of them, and also so as to not catch an accidental glimpse of any of the embarrassing parts of their male anatomy. She was eternally grateful that the lake water was slightly murky and it was very dark night, making it difficult to see anything below the surface of the lake. It would definitely help her to keep her true gender hidden from all of them.

As she momentarily panicked on what to do, Kiba, Lee, and Kankuro all ran straight in, whooping and cheering the whole time as they began to playfully splash one another with great showers of water. The small splash-fest was brought to a screeching halt when Choji elected to cannonball directly into the lake. Since he was a larger fellow, his good-natured stunt caused massive waves to erupt from the surface of the water where he had jumped in, and they went crashing over the bodies of the two other Konoha nins and the one Suna nin. Kiba, Lee, and Kankuro weren't upset by this, though. If anything, the enormous wall of water splashing over them only seemed to fuel the mischievous side of their personalities, and they started a full out splash battle with Choji, who was more than eager to start splashing them back. It was hard to tell what Shino could be thinking behind his black sunglasses, the only article of clothing he chose to keep wearing even while submerging calmly into the lake, but if one were to look closely, they would see that the corners of his lips were ever so slightly turned upward in amusement over his friend's childish antics, and he nonetheless swam over to join them in the minor water battle.

Hinata, very slowly and being careful to keep holding the lily pad up so as to not see any of them and stay completely submerged under the water, swam as best as she could in the direction of a large rock in the middle of the lake a short distance away. She had to get out of here now! If any of these men saw her naked self and realized her true gender, they would not hesitate to report her to the commanding officers immediately! Right now, the best course of action was to simply hide herself behind this large rock, and as soon as they were all distracted, she would make a run for her clothes in the trees.

She started to slip carefully behind the cover of the rock, all but breathing a sigh of relief that she might make it through this without being seen and without viewing _all_ of them, but Lee suddenly turned his head, and saw a flash of long, wet indigo-colored hair clinging to the sides of her face.

"Hiro! Good evening!" he called out rather cheerfully.

The others immediately stopped play-fighting and turned to look over at their Hyuuga comrade, who was completely frozen in his act of hiding behind the large rock.

For half-a-second, Hinata didn't move. Her brilliant plan, ruined! How the hell was she supposed to get out of this now? How the hell was she supposed to _look_ any of them in the eye while knowing that they were… and she was…? If she managed to get out of this mess without any of them knowing or even suspecting she was really a girl, she would pray to every god she knew of everyday for a year!

Very slowly and shyly, Hinata turned around, and set down the lily pad back on the surface of the pond, revealing her rosy red cheeks to the five fellow shinobi.

"Oh! Er… Hi, g-guys… I… I didn't k-know any of you w-were here…" she hastily stuttered, not even caring that she was falling back into her old habit of stuttering after every couple of words due to how embarrassed she was.

The five of them exchanged confused looks at each other before eyeing 'Hiro' strangely. How could he not have realized that they were coming into the lake, after the racket they all made jumping in and goofing around?

But Hinata did not give them an opportunity to question her rather sad excuse of a lie. She just continued to back up very slowly in the water, and tried to hide herself as best as she could behind the large boulder. "I… I was j-just washing, but… b-but now I'm c-clean so… so I'm g-gonna go! B-Bye-bye!"

She gave them all a rather small, nervous wave, and then hid herself completely behind the rock, mentally cursing herself for having such horrible, bad luck.

But Kiba wouldn't give up that easily. He and his buddies had been trying to catch Hiro alone for ages now, and this was too good an opportunity to let slip by. He quickly swam after him.

"Come back here, Stutters!" he laughed, his usual nickname for the shy young man being said more as playful teasing rather than the cruel remark that Kiba had previously used when speaking to him. "We've been meaning to talk to you for a while now! We've actually wanted to apologize to you!"

Hinata slowly poked her head out from behind the rock, and revealed her flaming red face as she gave him a shy, skeptical look. "A-Apologize…?" she whispered.

"Yeah! We all know we were a bunch of assholes to you before, so let's start over!" he offered with a grin, actually seeming genuinely nice for the first time since she'd met him. He held out a hand in a silent offer for a handshake. "What's up? I'm Kiba! The greatest ninja to have ever come from the Inuzuka clan!" he said haughtily.

Silently, Hinata accepted the handshake. In her opinion, the faster she got through this reintroduction, the faster she could get out of here. And besides, it was only a handshake. It's not like she would be touching any other body part on his naked body…

"H-Hi…" she said quietly.

Kiba tried to pull her closer to him to give her a friendly thump on the back, but Hinata quickly snatched her hand and backed away, not wanting to get any closer to any of these naked men. As she moved her hand back, however, her hand accidentally smacked into something large, wet, and very much soft and fleshy. She whirled around, only for the blush on her cheeks to turn completely scarlet. Behind her was the wet and naked form of the oversized Choji, who was smiling kindly at her as he fished a bit of pondweed out of his spiky brown hair.

"And I'm Choji," he said warmly, his usually kind and friendly personality seeping into his voice as he reintroduced himself.

Hinata barely even heard his words. Her head was reeling about the fact that she had — albeit unintentionally — touched a man's chest while he was naked. The thought was enough to make her slightly lightheaded from how shy she normally was.

"H-Hello, Choji…" she said slowly, not trusting herself to say anything more.

Shino and Kankuro swam up next. Kankuro's make-up free face was grinning excitedly at her, while Shino had a small smirk of his own spreading across his lips.

"I am Shino Aburame, the future leader of the Aburame clan," said the bug user rather simply to the flustered heiress.

Hinata's cheeks stayed stained pink as she gave him a small, barely noticeable nod. "Hey, S-Shino… I… I've actually b-been meaning to apologize t-to you for… for p-punching you before…" she said quietly, turning her head away slightly to hide her embarrassment and shame.

"Are you referring to that day at the pine pole? Do not worry. I've moved past that. I bear you no ill will."

"Oh… o-okay…"

"Hey! Don't forget about me!" said Kankuro rather obnoxiously, shoving his way in between Hinata and Shino as he spoke. It took every ounce of willpower that Hinata possessed to not squeak loudly in her normal girly voice from embarrassment as he got right up in her face.

"The name's Kankuro! The second-born son of the Kazekage! I may not be as good a ninja as my little brother, but I'm definitely the better looking one! How're you doing, Hiro?"

"G-Good, thanks…" she whispered, trying to divert her eyes away from the Suna ninja's muscular chest.

She turned her head away, only to regret it and go flaming red at what she saw and wishing to every god and spirit that she knew of that she had simply stuck to looking at Kankuro's upper body, where no particular part of his male anatomy was currently being displayed, rather than turning her head and witnessing what she just did. She quickly turned her head back to be looking right at his chest, and even held a hand up beside her eyes to ensure that she didn't accidentally catch a peek of _anything_ out of the corner of her eye.

Lee had climbed up on top of another rock not too far away, and was proudly displaying _every_ part of his wet and naked body as he towered over them all and held out his thumb in a classic 'nice guy' pose while he looked down at the rest of them.

"Yosh! And I am Rock Lee! The Handsome Green Devil of the City Hidden in the Leaves! The one whose flames of youth burn the brightest!" he proudly proclaimed, and then a sneaky look spread across his face. "And there's nothing you girls can do to make yours burn brighter!"

Hinata thought she might faint as she squeezed her eyes shut and even used her hand to cover them further. There was a part of her that was wishing she had a kunai right now. That way she could permanently blind herself. She definitely did _not_ need to see that! She didn't even know how she'd ever be able to look Lee in the eyes again without thinking about this particular moment.

Kankuro smirked, and moved away from Hinata so as to get closer to where Lee was standing up on his rock.

"Oh, yeah?! Bring it on, Bushy Brows!" he said conceitedly.

He started to climb up onto the rock and shove Lee off, but a sudden swirl of sand shot out from seemingly nowhere, and shoved the Sunaese warrior back into the lake.

Kankuro coughed up great mouthfuls of lake water when he resurfaced. "Yo! What the hell?!" he spluttered, looking around in every direction to figure out who the culprit was that had prevented him from fully tackling the Konoha taijutsu expert.

"That is enough, Kankuro."

Every head in the lake turned. Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru were standing at the edge of the lake with towels around their waists to preserve their modesty, since other than Gaara who had his gourd of sand on his back as usual, none of them were wearing anything else. Hinata once again chose to divert her eyes as the two Co-Captains and the Leading Tactician threw the towels aside, Gaara set down the sand gourd, and all three joined them all in the lake.

Hinata felt like screaming at her eternal bad luck. Was the rest of the camp going to strip naked and jump in next?!

Kankuro sneered at his younger brother as he swam away from Lee to ruffle Gaara's red hair.

"Baby brother! Don't be a jerk! I was just about to cream this guy!"

"And that is precisely why I interfered. You are an embarrassment to our region of the country."

"And you're far too rule-abiding and uptight!"

As the older of the Sand ninjas pouted while the younger one glared monotonously at his elder brother, Choji smiled pleasantly at the arrival of his best friend.

"Shikamaru! Good to see you!"

"Hey, Choji," said the lazy shinobi, actually yawning a bit as he swam up to oversized friend.

Choji pouted a bit when he noticed the yawn. "What? Is it too _troublesome_ to talk with me?!" he playfully growled.

The Nara heir lazily shook his head. "No, it's just the meeting we were all in a moment ago was such a drag. Stupid Kage advisor wouldn't shut up…" he muttered.

"Is that so?" questioned Shino, one of his brows rising up from beyond the rim of his darkly shaded spectacles. "Might I inquire as to why Captain Naruto is not with you three? He's generally always around you all."

Hinata didn't think that it was at all possible, but her face became even redder just from hearing the name of her secret crush, and she fought the urge to faint. It was bad enough being naked in the bath while all these men were naked, too, and swimming about around her, but adding in the idea of Naruto suddenly appearing and stripping off his clothes and joining them in the lake was enough to make her somewhat dizzy. She could only pray that she wouldn't faint here in the middle of the lake or have a potential nosebleed!

The Uchiha just folded his arms and shut his eyes, as though annoyed by the innocent question. "He's still in the meeting with Ebisu and Kakashi," he said irritably. "We were excused early since we're simply the subordinates…"

"So, you're basically saying that you three aren't nearly as great as the Captain, huh?" said Kiba, flashing his white canine-like teeth sneakily.

Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously at the Inuzuka clansmen's words. "Watch your tongue, Inuzuka! Remember, you are speaking to some of the leaders of this platoon!"

Kiba only smirked. "Oh, yeah? Well, I think Hiro and I can take all of you!" he grinned, gently nudging Hinata's shoulder with one of his elbows while moving his hands together to form a hand sign.

Hinata immediately began shaking her head vehemently from side to side as she tried to swim away, keeping her hand pressed firmly against the side of her eyes so she wouldn't accidentally catch a glimpse of anyone or anything else. She could not afford to get involved in a naked water brawl. Her primary concern was getting out of this lake unseen by any of them and working on getting the mental images of her fellow naked shinobi out of her head. She was already traumatized enough! She didn't need any further mental scarring!

She managed to slip around her five newfound friends, and kept her back to them and did her best to stay out of arm's reach as she began swimming towards a cluster of rather tall water reeds at the edge of the lake. It was the perfect place for her to climb out and dash into the trees to retrieve her clothes without being seen.

"I-I-I really don't w-want to take them a-anywhere…" she stuttered nervously, her cheeks still a bright, cherry red as she tried to hurriedly swim away.

Kiba looked at her as though she was talking crazy, and hastily swam after her. "Hiro! What the hell are you talking about?! We have to fight!" he yelled, pointing back at the smug, dark-haired Uchiha Co-Captain.

"N-No we don't…!" she said rather meekly, still trying to put as much as distance as she could between herself and him. "We… We c-could all just… c-close our eyes and… and s-swim around—"

She cut herself off with a slight 'eep!' when Kiba grabbed hold of her upper arm, and started tugging her back toward the rest of the group. "Aw, come on! Don't be such a gir—"

" _What the hell?!"_

Every head in the lake immediately turned to look at Lee, who was simply staring wide-eyed and pointing directly at a cluster of trees on the bank on the opposite end of the lake. Great orange flames were licking at the bark of the tree trunks, and gradually climbing up the entirety of the enormous trees to start engulfing the green, leafy branches.

"Fire!" shouted Sasuke, his Co-Captain mindset kicking in at once upon seeing the fiery flames spreading amongst the trees. "Men! Use all the water jutsus you know and put out those flames!"

The men in the lake nodded, and they all started hastily swimming in the direction of the flaming trees to put out the minor forest fire. In their rush to put out the flames, none of them noticed a certain embarrassed Hyuuga heiress whistle for her horse to appear, and start swimming in the opposite direction toward him as she climbed out of the lake, using the great body of her snow white stallion to shield her body from all sets of eyes.

Hinata didn't know how the fire started, nor did she care. All she knew was that this could very well be her one chance to get out of this lake unseen by the rest of the men, and she would be stupid not to seize the opportunity that this distraction had provided her with. As soon as she was on the sandy regions at the shore of the lake, she grabbed hold of the towel she had left hanging over Rin's back and hurriedly wrapped it around her wet and feminine body to keep her true gender hidden once again, seized hold of the clean set of clothes she'd draped over his back, too, and then ducked behind the cover of the tree she had hung her dirty clothes and breast bindings in before the whole humiliating bath.

"G-Goodness me… that was t-too close!" she gasped as she hurried to tied the bandages back around her chest. She was only now realizing just how stupid she had been to have risked bathing in the lake in the first place.

"No, Woman, that was you being an idiot! You owe me _so_ much right now!"

Hinata blinked, and looked back out from around the tree. Kurama had suddenly appeared from out of the blue with Usagi sitting comfortably on top of his head, and he was flashing his cute little fangs furiously in her direction. She stared at him in puzzlement, not understanding what he meant.

"K-Kurama?"

"That fire over there that everyone's working on putting out? You can thank me for that! You have no idea how hard it was to create a Tailed Beast Ball big enough to cause that fire! Of course, it wouldn't have been necessary to do it at all if you had listened to me in the first place, Girl!"

Hinata appraised her nine-tailed fox guardian for a moment, and then promptly vanished back behind the tree to finish dressing. Once she was fully clothed and had her wet indigo-colored hair tied back into its masculine disguise, she rushed out from behind the tree, and scooped up the orange furred fox at once and hugged him tightly.

"T-Thank you, Kurama…" she whispered. "If… If it w-weren't for you, I… I would h-have been found out right then… So, t-thank you…"

Kurama would never admit it out loud, but part of him felt warm and fuzzy from her heartfelt thank you and small cuddle, but that still didn't stop him from trying to squirm out of her arms and get out of the hug.

"Stupid woman! Release me at once!"

But Hinata did not obey him. At least not right away, that is. She ignored the wiggling fox and just hugged him even tighter for a few moments before bending down and finally setting him back down on the ground. Kurama glared at her for the feminine pampering, but Hinata ignored him as she stood back up.

"I… I _never_ want to s-see a naked man again…" she whispered with flushed cheeks.

Rin snorted in what was obviously amusement, but before he could nudge his head against her shoulder to try and cheer his mistress up, a great cluster of naked men suddenly ran past the startled, red-faced Hyuuga princess as they whooped and laughed joyfully and ran at full speed toward the lake, barely even sparing her a second glance as they all jumped in.

For several moments after they were all in the lake and their lower bodies were all out of sight, Hinata didn't move. Her mouth opened and closed several times as nonsensical words sputtered out from her lips, and her face became as red as a ripe tomato. She couldn't even think straight. In addition to Lee, she had just seen the lower anatomies of at least eight or nine other men. She was on the verge of either fainting or suffering from immediate cardiac arrest.

Thankfully, she was spared from either embarrassing fate by Kurama suddenly scratching one of his claws against the bare skin of her leg to snap her out of shocked daze.

"Deal with seeing them, Woman! I am not starting any more fires for you!" he growled.

Very slowly, Hinata nodded, but her eyes remained open completely wide due to her shock as she slowly led Rin by his reins away from the lake, and back toward her tent to tie him up for the night. After she did that and grabbed a quick dinner from the food tent, she had every intention of going to bed and forgetting that this last hour had ever happened.

As soon as she tied Rin up to the lower branches of the tree her tent was set up beside, she made her way to the food tent with Kurama and Usagi at her heels. It was actually very quiet in the campgrounds tonight. Anyone who wasn't already asleep was either swimming and bathing in the lake, or having a late dinner in the food tent. Hinata smiled lightly to herself as she enjoyed the peacefulness of the evening. Generally, the whole camp would be a loud and rowdy place during the daytime, but at night, it was rather nice when things were quiet. She definitely enjoyed the training camp at night more than she did during the day.

She was passing by the large strategy tent near the center of the camp when she caught wind of a group of people arguing inside. Curiosity got the better of her, and she forgot about her appetite and wandered closer to listen in.

* * *

Naruto was in a very, very bad mood. After training had ended for the day, he had planned to take a nice, relaxing bath with his three best friends and then retire for the night with a couple bowls of his favorite brand of instant ramen and maybe a card game before going to bed, but the stupid Closet Pervert just had to intervene! Ebisu had all but dragged the four of them along with Kakashi to the strategy tent and had begun lecturing them all on what a poor job that he — Naruto — was doing to train the troops, and that he ought to follow more after Sasuke and Gaara's example when directing the men every day.

Shikamaru had been furious, but didn't dare get involved as his main focus in this war was strictly strategy.

Kakashi's one visible eye had narrowed at Ebisu's words, and he had even set aside his orange paperback book.

Gaara and Sasuke had both openly glared at the Kage advisor, all but ready to hit him for his constant hatred at their friend.

Naruto had gritted his teeth together, finally having had enough of the meddlesome man. He had all but ordered his three best friends to get out and that he would take care of this. Gaara, Sasuke, and Shikamaru had been reluctant to leave him there with only Kakashi for support against the nuisance of a man, but the spiky blonde-haired teen had been quite insistent that they go. He was the Captain of this division of the Allied Shinobi Forces, and it was high time that he made that quite clear to the annoying Ebisu. Regardless of the personal circumstances going on right now with what had accidentally come to light to the public about his mother Kushina, that was no reason for this stupid Closet Pervert to take his prejudice out on him when neither he nor his mother had ever done anything wrong!

As soon as they were all gone, Naruto fought to keep a lid on his temper as he started squabbling back and forth with Ebisu about the quality of training. Despite being legally an adult and being a top-ranked Captain in the army, Naruto had a bad habit of losing control of his temper if he got super angry, and right now, he was pissed beyond belief. Still though, he didn't want to come across as childish to the meddlesome man, and it took all his willpower to keep a level head throughout the entire disagreement.

Kakashi would throw in his own opinions every now and then and would try to back up Naruto's arguments. Unlike Ebisu, Kakashi had no quarrel with the son of the legendary Minato Namikaze. He had actually been one of his teachers back when he was starting to learn the basics of a being a shinobi, so he respected him quite a lot and did not appreciate how he was being treated by Ebisu, but even with his help, Ebisu would always find a way to rebuff them whenever one of them said something in Naruto's defense.

It got to the point where Naruto was so annoyed and pissed with the snooty camp inspector, that he chose this moment — the worst possible moment ever, in retrospect — to drop the bombshell decision that he, Gaara, and Sasuke had already decided on last night before bed.

"You're opinion on my training methods doesn't mean shit, you lecherous creep! We're all heading to the front lines first thing next week!"

Kakashi's one visible eye widened in surprise at this sudden revelation, but Ebisu just stared at the young man standing in front of him in shock for a moment. Then his face twisted into an ugly sneer.

" _Captain Uzumaki,_ surely you are joking! You think your ninjas are ready to fight? Ha! They would not last a minute against the Sound!" Ebisu laughed as he paced back and forth in a dominating fashion in front of Naruto, who was seated down in a chair in front of him. Kakashi was leaning up against one of the tent poles, and openly glaring at Ebisu for what he had just called his former student.

Naruto had to fight the urge to clench up his fists when he heard the man call him that awful name again. Doing so would be a visible sign to Ebisu that he was succeeding in getting under his skin with the name calling.

"My name is _Namikaze!_ And those men out there have completed their training!" Naruto growled as he pointed to the tent flaps in a vague direction of the rest of the trainees outside who had been working hard in this camp for the past few months. "They all deserve a chance to bring honor for their clans and families in this war!"

Ebisu stopped pacing and leered down at Naruto over the tops of his black sunglasses. "Those _boys,"_ he snipped, "are no more fit to be soldiers than you are to be Captain!"

"I as a person am not fit to be Captain? Or is it the fact that you have a prejudice against who my _mother_ is, that makes you think I'm unfit?" Naruto snapped, finally having had enough with the attitude from the irritable man.

Kakashi had to nod in agreement at the reasonable question, and he turned to glare at the Kage advisor. "I have to agree with him, Ebisu. Is your prejudice against Uzumakis the reason why you seem so against sending the troops to the front lines?" he demanded.

Ebisu was silent for a moment, but then he found the words to sass back at the long time ninja veteran. "The fact that I dislike the Uzumaki clan has nothing to do with this particular matter! I personally do not believe that those obnoxious men out there are ready to fight in this war! Should they leave for the front lines now, they'll just be getting in the way of General Minato and Leading Commanders Jiraiya and Itachi! They're better off just staying out of the way, in my professional opinion!" Then he turned to look at the fuming red Naruto. "Mark my words, Boy! Once the General reads my report—" he held up the clipboard in his hands with the day's training schedule scribbled across it to emphasize his words "—your ninjas will never see battle!"

Naruto glared at him hatefully. He had always thought Ebisu was annoying in the past while he lived in the Imperial City, but he had never thought he would ever seriously hate him. That opinion of the Closet Pervert had been gradually changing little by little over the past three months as he was constantly ridiculed by the man and called by that terrible name every day, and now, it was his new outlook on the Hokage's personal advisor.

He wanted so badly to shove a blue ball of energy from one of his favorite signature attacks right into Ebisu's face so as to make him shut up.

* * *

Outside the tent, Hinata frowned as she eavesdropped on the conversation. She really felt bad for Naruto. He was a good trainer and Captain to all the men here, so he didn't deserve to be treated like this by the personal advisor to the Hokage. Still though, as she listened further to the argument, one question rang about in her head: _Why was Ebisu calling Naruto an Uzumaki?_ Naruto was the son of General Minato Namikaze, so that made him a Namikaze… didn't it?

As she was too preoccupied thinking about this, she failed to notice how Kurama was growling down by her ankles as he pressed one of his furry pointed ears against the cloth wall of the tent to hear better.

Kurama was furious as he listened to the irritable man continue to belittle Naruto. He had no opinion whatsoever of the energetic blonde Captain and really didn't give two shits whether or not Ebisu was prejudice against him for whatever reasons he had, but because of that prejudice, he wasn't going to let the men here join the main platoon in the war! How the hell was he supposed to get Hinata to win a medal of honor so he could be restored to his former glory and get his old job back if this man was standing in the way?!

With a snarl, he glanced down at Usagi, who was also listening in near his feet. Upon realizing that the fox guardian was looking at her, the little rabbit spirit turned her attention to him.

"Oh, no you don't, you son of a bitch! I've worked too hard to get Hinata into this war!" he snapped at Usagi. "This asshole's messing with my plan!"

* * *

Inside the tent, Naruto stood up from the chair, and shoved aside the clipboard Ebisu had been preparing to write on so as to look him in the eye. "Yo! We're not finished!" he growled.

But Ebisu was not intimidated. With a small scowl of his own, he shoved Naruto's hand off his writing pad. "I advise you to remember your place, Boy! Your father may be the General, but _I_ am the Hokage's advisor," he cheekily sneered. "And for the record, I got that job on my own. If it weren't for your father and the fact that Lord Jiraiya and the Honorable Third Hokage think so highly of you, I very much doubt the other Kage's would have ever allowed a boy related to such a despicable clan be the leading trainer for the ninja recruits…"

Anger boiled throughout Naruto's entire body. He so badly wanted to knock a few teeth out of that petty man's mouth. One swing. One shot. He wouldn't even need to use his favorite signature attack. He'd flatten him with one move!

Ebisu's smirk grew when he saw that he had succeeded in riling the boy up, and with a brief, haughty nod at the enraged blonde, he moved toward the entrance to the tent, and pulled up the tent flap. "You're dismissed, Captain. Commander Kakashi? You stay. I have a few more things to discuss with you…"

Kakashi threw Naruto a sympathetic look under his face mask, but Naruto ignored it. He was too angry right now. He just threw Ebisu one last dirty look before storming furiously out of the tent.

As he flew out of the tent in a haze of rage, however, he nearly collided right into the startled body of Hinata, whose face automatically became bright red when she saw the handsome Captain, even though she knew deep down that this was definitely not the right time to be fawning over him, considering how upset he was.

Naruto stopped and stared at 'Hiro' for several moments, and Hinata's face grew twice as hot as she stared back, not sure what to even say to him. Should she apologize for accidentally overhearing the argument? As she considered this, Naruto suddenly shook his head in anger over the previous disagreement, and then turned his back to her before stomping off in the direction of the training field to blow off some steam.

Hinata blinked when she saw him go. She knew it really wasn't any of her business as to what Naruto was doing right now, but she couldn't help but be worried about him. She abandoned her plans for a late dinner and instead hurried along after him, wanting to comfort him somehow if she could.

Kurama's eyes narrowed as he watched his human charge tag along after the blonde boy. As much as he wanted to meddle with the irritable camp inspector's reports so as to force him to allow the platoon to leave for the front lines at the end of the week as the Captain had wanted, he had to wait until both he and the one-eyed man got out of there first. Until that happened, the best course of action was to simply spy on Hinata and see just what she was up to with this boy. He couldn't allow her to blow her cover simply because of a stupid crush!

So he stealthily trotted along in the shadows after her, and Usagi silently hopped along after him.

Naruto was well aware of the fact that 'Hiro' was following him as he stomped angrily onto the training field, but in his haze of rage, he couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't give a flying fuck at that moment if he seemed like an insufficient Captain to the Hyuuga representative. He just wanted to pound something to let out his anger. He loved his parents with all his heart, but why oh why did his mother have to be an Uzumaki? Because of her, he was experiencing so much hatred from the stupid Closet Pervert who was now using his prejudice to prevent him, and every other man in this camp from earning honor for their clans and families in this war. Hell, he didn't even know he was related to the Uzumaki clan until a couple months ago! It was so unfair! He never did anything wrong, so why did Ebisu have to treat him like a second-rate citizen now?!

Hinata stood off to the side and watched as Naruto stormed up toward a series of training logs, curious to see what he was about to do. Then he brought his hands together to form a hand sign.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted out furiously.

There was a puff of smoke, and when it cleared away, there were two perfect replications of Naruto standing on either side of him. Hinata was amazed. Unlike the Clone Jutsu that Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara had been teaching everyone which only made an image of a clone of the user, the clones that Naruto had just created were both completely solid. It was really no contest as to which type of clone would be more useful in a fight. This really only proved that he was still leaps and bounds better than she was ninja-skill wise as a shinobi.

Hinata watched as the two clones stood on either side of the real Naruto as he held out one of his palms. Then, a blue orb filled with energy appeared in the open palm of the real Naruto. When that happened, the other two got to work. The one on the left began spinning its hands round and round the orb to seemingly keep it stabilized, while the other seemed to channel a great deal of Naruto's natural wind chakra into the blue orb, which made four small white blade-like protrusions surround it as the orb spun around in the original's hand. As the orb grew, a high pitched wail seemed to resonate directly from it, and the young heiress had to resist the urge to cover her ears with her hands to try and deafen the noise. Hinata was absolutely amazed as she watched the blue orb with the wind blades continue to grow in Naruto's hands. She had no idea what type of technique this was, but whatever it was, it was quite frankly the most beautiful looking jutsu she had never seen. She wondered what it was called exactly.

Finally, when Naruto had fully perfected the orb, the other two shadow clones disappeared in two identical puffs of smoke, and he, the original Naruto, took off running at full speed at the training log. When he reached it, he threw his hand holding onto the blue orb out in front of him to strike the wooden target.

"Wind Style: Rasengan!" he shouted out as the orb hit the log.

The entire wooden structure was blasted away from the force of the jab, but more from the power behind the attack with the blue energy striking it. Hinata gasped and took several steps back as chunks of wood went flying in every direction. That was definitely a powerful attack. She'd never seen a jutsu with that much power before in her life. Sure, she'd heard of such attacks before when Neji would tell her, Hanabi, and Tenten about previous missions he had been on, but she never thought she would ever witness such an attack with her own two eyes.

Naruto's anger wasn't fully gone, but he allowed the swirling blue energy in his hands to slowly die away. He had calmed down slightly after venting a bit of his anger, and although part of him still wanted to keep attacking training log after training log until all his anger was completely gone, he really didn't want to disgrace himself further in front of his audience. He simply wiped a thin trail of sweat away from his brow, and then turned to look at Hinata, who quickly jumped to attention upon realizing that she had his attention.

"C-Captain…?" she said slowly.

Naruto didn't answer back. He just stared back at 'Hiro' as he fought the urge to continue attacking something else. He needed the Hyuuga to say something — anything — that would be able to distract him right now from his rage.

Hinata blushed, and then looked over at the crumbled ruins of the training log. "Er… L-Listen… I'll h-hold him while you… while you d-do _that_ to the Kage advisor…" she offered meekly as she mimed a punch into her open palm, not really sure what else to say. "Or n-not… if y-you'd rather not do that…"

There was a brief pause, and then Naruto actually began to chuckle.

"Would you really? Just imagining doing that already makes me feel loads better!" he said with a small smile. "Believe me, you have no idea how many times I've wanted to waste that guy since day one here! He just makes me so mad sometimes!"

Hinata gave him a small smile. "For the r-record, Captain Naruto, I think—"

"You can call me just plain old Naruto, Hiro. We're not training right now or around anyone else," Naruto said as he plopped down and sat cross-legged on the grass and patted the ground beside him in a silent offer for her to sit down beside him.

Hinata smiled warmly at him, and happily accepted his invitation as she got down on her knees to sit down beside him. She had a few butterflies fluttering about in her stomach. This was the first time she had ever been alone with Naruto like this here at the training camp. She was slightly embarrassed by the prospect, but she had to try and ignore her natural shyness. In Naruto's eyes, this was just two men hanging out together after a long day of training. She had to keep her feminine personality, which was currently screaming at her, down to an absolute minimum during this conversation.

She gathered her thoughts, and then continued where she left off. "Well, for w-what's it's worth, Naruto, I think you're a g-great Captain and teacher, despite what Ebisu said," she told him rather nervously, but still managing to keep her stutter from appearing more than twice in her sentence.

Naruto blinked at the compliment, and then smiled brightly. "You really think so? Thanks! You're a pretty cool dude, Hiro!" he said, giving her a small, friendly thump on the back with his hand.

The amount of force he had added to his hand was no different than the amount he would normally use when thumping the rest of his guy friends on the back, but Hinata was a woman, and no one had ever tried to do something like that before in her life, since it was not something that was done to a respectable young lady. She squeaked a bit as she was shoved forward abruptly, nearly slamming face-first on the ground in front of her. Naruto was taken aback by this, and even looked back and forth between the flustered Hyuuga ninja sitting next to him and his own hand in very obvious confusion.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

Hinata felt her cheeks turn red in embarrassment. She really was pathetic. "I… I'm fine… I just wasn't e-expecting that is all…" she muttered quietly, humiliated for not being able to take the friendly gesture 'like a man.' But like she had just said, for a girl who had never had something done like that to her before, it had been way too hard.

Naruto studied her humiliated expression for a moment, but then shrugged noncommittally. "Ah, I see. Sorry, then!"

"It's o-okay…"

They sat there in silence for a short while as they looked up at the night sky, but then Hinata thought about the rest of the argument in the strategy tent, and hesitantly spoke up.

"S-Say, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"I… I hope I'm n-not prying but… but I w-was just wondering… Why did Ebisu k-keep referring to you as Uzumaki? Isn't your l-last name Namikaze?"

The grin on Naruto's face immediately vanished as a long, tense silence filled the air.

Hinata grew extremely worried. Was this something she shouldn't have asked? It really wasn't any of her business what that had been about, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. She thought back to her matchmaking appointment three months ago when Lady Anko had told her that 'silence is a virtue.' She really should have followed that advice right now, because judging by the dark look on Captain Naruto's face as he glared at the splintered remains of the training log in front of them in silent, angry scorn, this was definitely a sore subject for him.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Naruto spoke.

"Hiro, I actually don't mind you, so I have no problem telling you this," he began, "But you need to understand that this is a complicated matter, and even I don't know the full details, so I'm just gonna explain it the best that I can."

"O-Okay…"

"To begin with, I have to ask you, how much do you know about the Third Great Ninja War?"

Hinata blinked, not understanding what the previous war had to do with him being referred to by a different last name than his real one.

"W-Well, it happened back when I was a kid, so it w-was almost ten years ago, I think… Almost all the s-shinobi nations were involved, and your father earned his nickname of The Y-Yellow Flash when fighting against Iwa… Kakashi fought in it t-too, I think, and that's when he got his Sharingan implanted in h-his eye… And my Uncle H-Hizashi died during it, too, I know. After the e-end of the war, the Third Hokage began working on t-trying to ally all the regions together so as to form Japan, which he successfully m-managed to do."

Naruto stiffly nodded at her words. "All very true. You know your history well, Hiro, but you forgot one very important detail."

"I d-did…?"

"The Double Betrayal of the Whirlpool Nation."

Hinata tilted her head to the side, puzzled. "W-Whirlpool Nation?" she repeated, the name sounding vaguely familiar from somewhere in the back of her mind.

Naruto's fists clenched up tight in anger as he nodded. "Yeah, the country that played both sides during the war. Goddamn fuckers!" he abruptly snapped, pounding the ground hard with his fist in his anger.

Hinata flinched back a bit, but quickly overcame her brief startle. "I… I don't really r-remember this from my history lessons… What h-happened, exactly?"

Naruto's angry expression diminished slightly at the honestly innocent question, but it was clear by the monotone tone in his voice that he was still very upset about this particular bit of history as he spoke.

"Just as you said, Konoha had a major feud against not only Iwa, but also with Kiri and Kumo, too, and other than a few other minor nations, only Suna was on our side. Konoha needed help if we were to win the war against three of the major elemental countries. So, we turned to the only other powerful shinobi country that had yet to participate in the war for help: Uzushiogakure, home of the fuinjutsu sealing experts of the Uzumaki clan.

"Uzumaki…?" Hinata questioned, recognizing the name.

"Yeah. Initially, the Uzumaki clan and the regular ninjas in Uzushio were happy to help Konoha and Suna out and they prepared themselves to fight on our side, but apparently not long after the representatives of Konoha and Suna left the capitol city, the people in Uzushio were visited by the leading Generals from Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri, who seemed to have the same idea that we had to ask Uzushio to help them win the war instead of helping us."

"So w-what happened?"

Naruto chuckled darkly, but it was obvious from the pained expression on his face that he was not at all amused. "Uzushio saw a golden opportunity to conquer all five of the main elemental regions at once. The leaders of the capitol city figured they'd play both sides of the war, making it appear to both sides that they were allies, and when the right opportunity presented itself, they'd betray both sides and overpower everyone. Luckily, all five Kage's at the time quickly realized what was going on, and they actually had their armies join forces so as to fight the real enemy instead of fighting each other, but even though they won, a great number of ninjas died before they figured it out. The Whirlpool Nation truly fucked everyone over…"

"T-That's… That's terrible…"

"You're telling me. Mention the name's Uzumaki or Uzushio in the Imperial City, and you'll for sure start a riot. They're two of the most taboo names in all of Japan."

Hinata nodded in agreement, not liking what that despicable clan and country had done in the past, but then a thought occurred to her.

"W-Wait a minute… What does any of t-this have to do with you, though? Again, your n-name is Naruto Namikaze, not Naruto Uzumaki."

At this, Naruto's expression turned very sad.

"It's because I'm technically a descendant of the clan on my mother's side. Before she married my dad, my mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki."

Hinata's pearlescent eyes all but bulged out of her head.

"W-What?!"

"Yeah. Fucking unbelievable in my opinion, but you want to know what's even more unbelievable? I didn't even know that I was related to that traitorous clan until a couple months ago. Up until now, my parents always told me that my mom was just a civilian woman my dad met back before he became famous and fell in love with. They kept my mom's identity a secret from me. From everyone, actually, the only exceptions being the old man Third Hokage, Kakashi-sensei, and Pervy Sage. Those three men my dad would trust with his very life and consequently mine and my mom's, too."

"P-Pervy Sage?"

"Commander Jiraiya. He's actually my godfather and just as much my teacher as Kakashi-sensei and my dad."

"Oh."

"Yeah, it was for both my mom's safety and my safety, too. It didn't really matter if people knew what Mom's maiden name was before the war, because we were allies with Uzushiogakure then, but after the war, not only was my dad famous, which consequently put me and my mom in the spotlight, too, but those that remained of the destroyed country and the traitorous clan were scattered all across the land. If word got out that the hero of Konoha was married to a member of the traitorous Uzumakis and even had a son who was technically a descendant of the clan, my mom and I probably would have been killed even though we didn't have anything to do with what had happened. Hell, my mom hadn't even been back in her home country since she married my father about eight or nine years before the war even started! She had nothing to do with what happened, and I was only a kid who was just starting to learn the basics of kunai throwing, but because people were so angry with what the Uzushio had done which led to so many ninja deaths, they wouldn't have cared that we were simply innocent bystanders in the whole mess. They would have executed us and not cared about the consequences afterwards. Everyone who knew my mom's real identity decided that it was all for the best if I was left simply ignorant of her side of the family."

There was a brief silence as Hinata absorbed all the details of Naruto's heartbreaking confession. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. This hadn't changed her opinion of him in any way, but she was still shocked to learn that he was a descendant of a traitorous clan.

Then a thought occurred to her.

"H-Hold on, if… if your mother's identity w-was such a well kept secret, how… how did the knowledge b-become public?"

At this, Naruto's expression became rather sheepish.

"That's actually a really interesting story. You see, Hiro, most members of the Uzumaki clan have a bloodline limit of sorts that let them use these chakra chains that form right out of their bodies, which are called the Adamantine Sealing Chains. Granted, _I_ personally don't possess it, but Mom didn't even know she had it until a couple months ago at this party before the Sound invaded the country. As the wife and son of the most likely Fourth Hokage after this war is over, my mom and I were invited along with my dad to this great big gala being hosted at the Imperial Palace by the Four Kages and the Mizukage Regent along with their families in the Imperial City. I know all of them quite well, actually, having moved to the capitol from my home village back when I was kid, after my old man was named General. Well, you know all about how things are turbulent in Kiri right now and that there have been numerous assassination attempts on the Mizukage Regent's life, right?"

Hinata nodded.

"Well, long story short, some rogue ninjas from Kiri decided to use the party as an excuse to try and kill her. It was absolute pandemonium, let me tell you. My mom… My mom wanted to help somehow, even though my dad and I told her to get out of the party room and find some place to hide while we helped to drive the invaders out. She didn't listen. I'm not sure how, but she snuck out of the room we told her to stay in, found a vase of some sort, and tried to bash one of the Kiri ninjas on the head with it!"

Hinata couldn't help but be somewhat impressed with Lady Namikaze's bravery. "R-Really?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, brave stunt, no doubt, but a stupid one, too. It wasn't hard for the other Kiri ninja's to capture her, and since they recognized her as my dad's wife, they tried to trade her for Mei Terumi. A life for a life, they said. No one really knew what to do right then, because although none of us wanted to just hand over the Mizukage Regent who had technically done nothing wrong, the death of the wife of a ninja army General couldn't just be swept under the rug. We in the Namikaze clan would have been within our rights to go to war with Kiri if my mom was murdered in cold blood right then! But that's when Mom got mad…"

"M-Mad?"

"Yeah. Later on, she told me and my dad that what happened felt almost like an instinctual reaction to what was happening. She started screaming and thrashing about in the arms of the Kiri nin who was restraining her, and the next thing I knew, these large chakra chains were flying out of her body and latching themselves onto all the Kiri invaders in the room! All thoughts of the rogue Kiri assassins pretty much flew out of everyone's heads right then when they witnessed this. Like I said before, only members of the Uzumaki clan can make those chains appear, and although what had happened was simply an accidental reaction to the dangerous situation she had been in, my mom had pretty much announced to the entire country that she was a member of the traitorous Uzumaki clan, and that made people realize that I was part Uzumaki, too."

Naruto sighed when he was finished speaking, and then flopped backwards so as to be lying on his back. He folded his hands behind his head as he gazed miserably up at the starry night sky.

Hinata looked at him sadly for several moments. She couldn't imagine how hard things had to be for him these days. "Y-You must have it rough…" she said quietly.

He nodded dejectedly. "Yeah, you have no idea what it's like to be me right now, Hiro. To have people stare at you as though you're scum and as soon as they're sure you're not in the room or simply not listening, they start trash-talking you in whispers behind the backs of their hands."

Immediately, Hinata compared her situation as the failed heiress to the Hyuuga main branch to Naruto's situation, and quickly shook her head. "That's where you're wrong. I know exactly how that feels," she said at once, actually managing to surprise herself when she realized that she hadn't stuttered when she spoke.

Naruto looked at her with an obviously surprised expression. "You do? How? You're the heir to the Hyuuga clan, one of the oldest, most respected clans in all of the Land of Fire. How do you know what that's like?"

This time, it was Hinata's turn to look sad, and she looked away from Naruto to hide her melancholy frown. "Because… Because I'm a f-failure, that's why. Everyone in m-my clan knows it… I'm the misfit of the H-Hyuuga clan, since I'm not like the r-rest of my family, and that makes me a d-disgrace in the eyes of the clan elders and even… even my own f-father…"

"Are you exaggerating at all?"

"I… I w-wish I was… Those on the Hyuuga c-council have been trying to convince my father for awhile n-now to… to officially demote me as h-heir and make my sister the new heiress."

Naruto blinked at this revelation, and then abruptly asked, "Which sister?"

"W-What?"

"Which one of your sisters? You have two, right? That's what the Closet Pervert said back when you introduced yourself to everyone the first day here. Which one of your sisters?"

"Oh, m-my little sister Hanabi. She's t-thirteen."

"Sounds like the elders in your clan are a bunch of assholes. Your father's really not going to strip you of your birthright though, right?"

"I… I wouldn't be s-surprised if he already has, actually…"

"What do you mean?"

"We… We had a bad argument the n-night before I left to come here. He basically told me I d-dishonored the entire clan because of… of a certain incident t-that happened in the village earlier that day… It w-wouldn't really be that much of a shock to find out that h-he hates me, now…"

"If that's really the case, then your father is a bastard who needs to stop thinking about the reputation of the entire Hyuuga clan and start thinking about the wellbeing of his immediate family."

Hinata's head snapped around to stare at Naruto in absolute shock.

"H-How… How dare you! My f-father is… My father is the b-best head of the Hyuuga main branch in countless g-generations!"

"Yeah, that might be true, but if he's only focused on being the head of the clan and not on being a good father to his kids, then he's a bad father. It's possible to be both, you know. My dad might be the head of the Namikaze clan and does follow the advice that the elders of the clan tell him, but if it turns out that their advice is not in the best interest of me and my mom, he puts us first and not the clan. And you want to know how I know this? The minute it was made public that my mom was an Uzumaki, the clan elders tried to talk him into divorcing her, remarrying some other noblewoman immediately, and fathering a new heir ASAP so there would be a legitimate reason to have me — Uzumaki descendant scum — thrown out of the Namikaze compound as soon as possible…"

It was all but impossible for Hinata to hide the alarm spreading rapidly across her face.

"They… They didn't!"

"Oh, trust me, they did, and it was all in order to preserve the legacy and honor of the Namikaze clan… But you want to know what my dad told them? Keep in mind, my mom and I are generally the ones in our three-person family to swear, so this was a shock. He said, and I quote: 'All of you go fuck yourselves to hell and back! Kushina is my wife and Naruto is my only son! If any of you goddamned, shithead council members have a problem with my family, you're all free to get the fuck out of this compound and never come back!'"

Although it was very unladylike of her, Hinata's jaw fell open in her amazement.

"He… He r-really said that?" she asked.

Naruto grinned at her reaction. "He sure did! Needless to say, you're not the only person whose jaw dropped upon hearing this. I myself was shocked, and I don't think I ever saw my mom's eyes get that wide before. But it worked, you know? No one on the council bothered me or my mom after that for being related to the Uzumaki clan. That's why I know that if you're dad doesn't fight for you and just does whatever the elders in your clan tell him, he could learn a thing or two from my dad."

Hinata was silent for a time as she considered this. She never really considered this before whenever she thought about trying to win the approval of her father and appease the demands that those on the Hyuuga council sought from her every single day of her life as she strived to be a good heiress, but Naruto made a good point. Her father was supposed to love her, right? So why didn't he fight for her whenever the clan elders talked about demoting her of her title? He never acted like Naruto's father and used his influence as the clan head to make it clear to those on the Hyuuga council that they were to accept her for who she was even with her faults. He just continuously asked them to give her more time to become the perfect heiress everyone wanted her to be.

Did he do that because he loved her as his eldest daughter, or simply because she was the firstborn and the destined heiress?

It was a horrible concept to consider and she couldn't bear to keep thinking about it. She had to find something else to talk about.

"S-So… So you're not m-mad at your mother, then?" she asked suddenly.

Naruto blinked at the abrupt question. "Why would I be mad at my mom? It's not like she intentionally revealed herself to the entire country as being a member of the Uzumaki clan."

"That's… That's n-not what I meant. I don't mean t-to be rude or anything, but… but are you upset at all w-with her now that you know that… that you're both related t-to a traitorous clan?" she asked nervously.

There was a long pause as Naruto turned his head away from her and contemplated this. When he finally looked back her, his expression was very fixed, revealing that there was indeed a small part of him that was angry about this whole situation.

"Kids can't choose their parents, and even if it was possible, I wouldn't trade my mom for any other woman in the world. I can't even begin to fathom what my life would have been like if I had grown up calling someone else 'Mom.' And it's not like my mom ever asked to have been born into the Uzumaki clan. She's not the one who started the war, after all. So no, I'm not mad at her for that. If I'm mad about anything, it's how people like that damn Closet Pervert treat me now because my mother's past has been made public, and because she and my dad lied to me about her origins for so long."

"L-Lied to you?"

"Yeah. I told you before, didn't I? My parents told me for years that my mom was just a woman from a civilian family that my dad fell in love with and eventually married. I understand why they hid all this from me when I was younger, but I'm a full-fledged shinobi now, you know? I hate the fact that they still chose to keep lying to me even though I'm an adult! I just… I just wish they could have trusted me with the truth… I hate liars!"

Hinata didn't choose to respond to that. She couldn't help but wonder what he would say or think if he were to ever find out that she was lying to not only him, but to every single other person in this camp about her real name and gender. That was a question that was definitely best not to answer.

Naruto took her silence as a reason to keep talking, so that's what he did. "Anyway, I'm just glad my best friends didn't ditch me when they found out about all this. Sasuke and Gaara? I've known them ever since I was a kid, when me and my whole clan first immigrated to the Imperial City because of my dad's new job as the leading General. They were hard to befriend at first, but as time went by, we all became best friends. And then we met Shikamaru a couple years ago when he became the youngest Leading Strategist in the history of the Allied Shinobi Forces, and we befriended him, too. They all could have easily turned their backs on me when they found out the truth, but they stuck by me. That's something I'll never forget and will always cherish. Hell, I'll bet that if that damn Closet Pervert decides to yell out in front of everyone one day that I'm technically related to the Uzumaki clan, pretty much all the recruits here would stop listening to my training advice every day and start hating me…"

"T-That's not true!" Hinata immediately protested.

Naruto's head shot up at her sudden exclamation, and he looked at her in surprise. Hinata felt her cheeks turn rosy red when he started gazing at her.

"Oh, yeah, Hiro? Name one recruit in this camp who wouldn't hate me if they found out the truth. Name one!"

"M-Me…"

Naruto blinked at the simple word. "What?"

"I… I k-know the truth now, Naruto, and… and I d-don't hate you. I actually admire y-you now. You've experienced a l-lot of hardship because of your parentage, but you haven't l-let that stop you. You work hard every day to b-be accepted. I… I really r-respect you for that…"

Naruto's mind was completely blank as he processed what 'Hiro' had just told him. "Thanks…" he said slowly.

An awkward silence fell between the two of them after this that Naruto didn't fully understand, but Hinata did. She supposed that if she was dressed up like a girl right now, this would be the moment where she would try and comfortingly attempt to touch either Naruto's hand or shoulder while blushing madly as he wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and smiled at her. It was just the natural thing to do after a heartfelt confession about someone's past like this between a man and a woman. Unfortunately though, she was pretending to be a boy simply acting like a friend to Naruto, so trying to touch his hand or shoulder like she so badly wanted to would probably freak him out. She would just have to settle with feeling the heat continuously rising in her cheeks and she peeked sparingly at her crush out of the corner of her eye.

Naruto didn't know why things felt so awkward between him and 'Hiro' all the sudden. They'd just been chatting normally with one another before he decided to tell him about his personal problems with his clan, and now all of the sudden it was much too silent between the two of them. He knew he wasn't exactly the smartest guy in the world, but why the hell did the atmosphere between them seem so strained all of the sudden? Considering how much fun he had back when he was kid when he invented the Sexy Jutsu and the Harem Jutsu, he knew for a fact that he wasn't gay, so why did his cheeks feel like they were slowly starting to grow warm?

The uncomfortable silence finally ended when a voice suddenly called out from across the other end of the training ground.

"Naruto! You got a minute?"

Naruto and Hinata both looked over their shoulders from where they'd been sitting on the ground. It seemed as though Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru had finally finished their interrupted bath, and were waving the blonde boy over.

Naruto chuckled when he saw them, and looked over at his Hyuuga comrade as he got back up on his feet. "Sorry, Hiro. Looks like duty calls…"

"I understand. G-Go right ahead," said Hinata kindly as she stood up as well. "It… It was n-nice speaking with you, Capta—"

"I told you before, Hiro. You can just call me plain old Naruto. We're pals now, aren't we?"

"Y-Yes! Of course!"

"Then don't worry about calling me Captain! We can be on a first name basis from now on!"

"O-Okay… Goodnight then, N-Naruto…"

"Night!"

Hinata smiled lightly to herself as she watched Naruto jog off toward his three best friends and fellow army leaders. Part of her was indeed disappointed that she couldn't have acted like a girl for a moment and do something more at the end of their small talk, but she was glad that she and Naruto had this conversation. She understood him a little bit better now, and even though every other noble in the country might be against him because of the fact that he was technically half Uzumaki, she would never turn her back on him. If anything, her crush on him was even stronger now because he seemed to trust her enough to tell her all of this.

In fact, she was starting to get the suspicion that her feelings for Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze were slowly turning into something much more meaningful and strong than a simple, innocent crush… But she wasn't a hundred percent positive of whether or not this was true quite yet.

"I saw that, Woman," said a voice suddenly down by her feet.

Hinata 'eeped!' lightly and looked down. Kurama and Usagi had been watching the entire exchange between her and Naruto from a cluster of bushes not too far away, and upon seeing Naruto leave her, they took the opportunity to sneak up on the shy heiress before she could run off herself.

Hinata blinked when she saw her two spirit friends. "K-Kurama, where did you come from? And what d-do you mean…?"

Kurama just shot the blue-haired girl a sneaky look before glancing over his shoulder at the retreating blonde, and then back at her. "You _like_ him, don't you?" he drawled.

Instantly, Hinata's face became red hot in complete embarrassment that she was that easy to read by her fox guardian. "N-No! I—"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever! Just go to your tent, Girl!" The fox snarled, pointing one of his many orange tails sharply in the direction of her flimsy white tent that was still set up at the very edge of the training camp.

Hinata's blush only became brighter as she slowly left her fox guardian and lucky rabbit spirit, but as she made her way back to her tent, her cheery little smile soon returned. Regardless of what Kurama may think of her, she didn't regret having developed feelings for Naruto. He may not be the boy who had given her his scarf back when she was a little girl, but he had become very important to her. She would just have to be very careful from now on how she acted around him so that he didn't start getting suspicious about her gender.

As soon as the young heiress was fully out of earshot, Kurama turned his attention to tiny Usagi.

"She really is a stupid girl. What idiot woman goes and lets herself fall in love at a ninja training camp when she's supposed to be pretending to be a man and training to be a ninja herself?!"

Usagi began hopping up and down as she squeaked out a number of words in defense of Hinata's new feelings.

"Don't ask me to be sympathetic, Rabbit! If there's one human emotion that I've never understood, it's the ability to love. All I care about is myself, you got it?!"

Usagi bleated out something that sounded almost like a chuckle at that.

"What do you mean, you don't believe me?! I care only about getting my old powers and old job back, and the only way to do that is to turn that stupid heiress into a war hero! I care nothing about her as a person at all! And speaking of which, do you remember what that old coot was saying before and how he's interfering with my plan?"

The little white rabbit squeaked out an affirmative.

Kurama's tiny canines flashed into a sneaky grin. "Well, I think it's high time the two of us took this war into our own hands," he sinisterly chuckled.

Usagi tilted her head to side, not understanding what he meant. The fox noticed the confusion on the rabbit's face, and beckoned her to follow him with a flick of one of his many tails.

"Follow me!" he ordered, and then darted off speedily in the direction of the main strategy tent that they had been by earlier, leaving Usagi no choice but to hop along hurriedly after him.

As the two spirits snuck up to the tent entrance, they noticed that Kakashi was seemingly gone, and heard what sounded like Ebisu humming lightly to himself as he did something inside, so they both ducked around behind the side of the tent wall to hide as they waited for him to finally leave. Luckily, they didn't have to wait too long, as the annoying Kage advisor soon exited the tent a few minutes later, clothed only in his usual black sunglasses, a large fluffy cream-colored body towel wrapped around his waist and a smaller towel wrapped around his head in a bandanna-like way similar to how he normally chose to wear his Konoha forehead protector. He also wore a pair of soft and expensive slippers, and was armed with several sweet-smelling floral soaps, oils, and a large back scrubber.

Kurama had to blink twice to make sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was as he and Usagi watched the irritable camp inspector make his way toward the lake to take a bath himself. "Are we sure _he's_ not really the woman who's masquerading as a man?" he muttered in disbelief.

Tiny Usagi bleated out a small snort of amusement, and then they both hurried along inside the tent.

The interior of the tent was composed of a few pieces of portable furniture, foldable chairs and a work desk that could easily be stored away in a storage scroll if they needed to be, and in the far corner was a large storage crate filled with some important army documents Ebisu had thought necessary to bring along with him all the way from the Imperial City. The top of the writing desk contained several sheets of blank paper, a large pot of ink and a calligraphy brush, and there were also two pictures in a set of nice frames that Ebisu had brought with him. The first was a picture of himself smiling at the camera as he shook hands with his boss, the Third Hokage, but the other was a more personal picture of himself and his student, the Honorable Grandson Konohamaru, standing together in the front of the Imperial Ninja Academy. Despite being an asshole to almost everyone he met, Ebisu did have a soft spot for his young pupil.

Kurama ignored the pictures though as he climbed his way on top of one of the chairs so as to be able to get up on top of the desk, and Usagi followed his example. Together, they read some of the reports that the advisor had been writing for General Minato and the Third Hokage to read once they were ready to be mailed off. It wasn't long before Kurama began growling furiously.

"Arrogant prick! There's no way any of the men are leaving this camp if the General or that blasted Hokage read these!" he snapped.

Usagi bleated angrily in agreement as she thumped one of her oversized rabbit feet down on one of the black kanji symbols scribbled across one of the reports' many white pages.

"Well, like I said before, we're taking this war into our own hands now, Rabbit! Find a blank sheet of paper and get some ink on those big feet of yours! We're forging a letter from the General!"

Usagi bleated an affirmative to the order. Despite not personally liking the bad-mouth persona Kurama usually showed off, she wasn't in any position to argue with him right now. For one, neither of them knew when exactly Ebisu or some other high-ranking military official would be back, so they had to be quick, and for another, in this instance it would be better just to follow Kurama's orders to a tee and do whatever he said, since this was Hinata's one and only chance at earning honor for the Hyuuga clan during this war.

For once, the tiny rabbit spirit and the fox guardian actually worked together for a change in order to clear away some space on the desk so that a single sheet of blank paper was lying in front of them. Then little Usagi hopped into the pot of ink and jumped up and down in place a few times to make sure a good portion of it was sticking to her feet, and began to scrawl out a quick, but still rather polite message in a mixture of hiragana and kanji symbols onto the paper addressed to Captain Naruto and signed by his father Minato. When she was done, she hopped happily off to the side and began wiping her feet clean with a small rag beside the pot of ink, feeling rather happy and proud of herself as Kurama stepped forward to read the letter.

"Okay, then. Let's see what you got…" he muttered. He began to read the note to himself out loud for Usagi to hear. _"'From General Minato Namikaze to my son Naruto, we're waiting for the Sound army at the pass. It would be very helpful if you'd come and back us up.'"_

There was a long pause as Kurama stared deadpanned at the pitiful note. Finally, a sarcastic grin spread across his face as he sneered down at the beaming Usagi.

"Oh, yes! That's great! Except you forgot to add, 'And since we're out of potpourri, perhaps you wouldn't mind carting some along?'" he said nastily.

Usagi was immediately offended, and began hopping up and down angrily as she squeaked furiously at the orange fox, but Kurama was not at all intimidated by the smaller creature, and even crumpled the letter she had written into a small ball and threw it into a wastebasket in another corner of the tent.

"Oh, put a lid on it! This is the goddamn army, you stupid rabbit! Do you honestly think any vital message sent by a leading General would be this damn polite?! Make it sound more urgent, damn it! Got it?!"

Usagi furiously glared at her fellow spirit for making her rewrite what she considered to be the perfect request, but nonetheless did as Kurama demanded and hopped back into the ink pot for a moment to get the ink back on her feet. She jumped up and down across a new blank sheet of paper with Kurama watching her carefully this time as she wrote an urgent letter addressed to Naruto again from Minato saying that the Sound ninjas were slowly surrounding their forces, and that their troops were their last hope to win this war. Kurama nodded in approval as the last words were finally written.

"That's better. Much better," he declared almost happily as she hopped off to the side again. "Now quick! Help me find an official seal and let's get this thing rolled up!"

They found an official army seal in a drawer in the desk, and carefully rolled the sheet of paper up so that it would resemble a scroll before sealing it tightly with the seal so that it would appear to be even more official to that crabby Ebisu.

When they were done, Kurama carried the scroll with one of his many tails as they hurried to leave the tent, leaving no traces whatsoever that they had ever been in there.

Now the question was how do they get Ebisu to read this fake plea for help?

Usagi actually squeaked this to Kurama as they hurried out of the tent to ask if he had any ideas.

"Of course I have a plan, Rabbit! Help me find that stupid horse that girl owns!"

They made their way back to Hinata's tent at the edge of camp where Rin had been tied up again after the rather embarrassing bath. Rin didn't particularly mind Usagi, since he knew that the rabbit had always been considerate of Hinata even before she embarked to this war camp, but he had never once trusted the fox, and he eyed Kurama suspiciously as he and Usagi approached him.

Kurama growled at the untrusting look in the horse's eyes. "Don't look at me like that, you damn donkey! Hop to attention! We need a lift!"

But Rin just pawed the ground angrily where Kurama was staring up at him. It was high time that this fox learned that acting like an ass would not earn him any brownie points with everyone. Hinata was starting to talk back to him, and Rin was very proud of her for that, but if this orange fox thought that he would be his next verbal assault victim, he had another thing coming!

Kurama snarled angrily as he and Usagi left the horse. He really hated that beast with a burning passion.

Usagi looked up at him worriedly, and asked with several sad bleats what they were going to do now?

Kurama didn't answer her right away as he considered what to do. But then his eyes fell on the bale of hay that Hinata had brought over earlier that day for Rin's dinner, her pile of dirty clothes lying beside the entrance to the tent that she had forgotten to wash, and spied off in the distance another four-legged wild animal wandering about.

A smirk spread across his foxy lips. "Don't worry, Rabbit. We just have to go with plan B…"

* * *

Ebisu was in a very foul mood as he stumbled out of the pond, soaking wet and growling angrily over his shoulder at the howling, rambunctious men still bathing in the pond as he hurried to wrap his bath towel back around his waist while holding up one of his prized, fashionable bath slippers.

"Immature commoners!" he snarled as he continued to glare furiously in the direction of the still very much amused ninja recruits. "You men owe me a new pair of slippers!" he shouted after them, waving the waterlogged slipper angrily as he did so.

His words only earned more loud and mocking laughter from the men in the lake.

Ebisu sneered at them, but then tried to gather what remained of his dignity, tying on his dark bandanna and forehead protector as he tried walking back in the direction of his personal tent. "Hmph! And I most certainly do _not_ squeal like a girl — _ahhh!"_ He abruptly shrieked in a high-pitched, girly voice as something large suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere in front of him and yanked the slipper right out of his hand, and he leapt backwards in obvious alarm.

Kurama turned out to be very resourceful in his new plan to get his and Usagi's forged message to Ebisu. Using some of the hay that was leftover from Rin's dinner, they had stuffed up a set of Hinata's dirty clothes with it to make it seem like a ninja, and then tied a series of sticks to the back of the scarecrow's arms so Kurama could operate the limbs from behind, that way Ebisu wouldn't realize that the one giving him the message was simply a puppet. Usagi climbed up to where the face on the dummy was, and would pantomime the mouth moving. Getting the puppet to Ebisu had been the main problem, though, but they rectified it by bribing a wild panda bear to act docile for a few minutes with a bit of leftover food, and they sat the scarecrow down atop its back before climbing on top of it themselves.

The panda was actually what had stolen Ebisu's slipper from him, and it was lazily chewing it up and eating it as Kurama cleared his throat and used the opposable thumbs on his paws to maneuver the sticks that controlled the fake-ninja's arms.

"Urgent news from General Minato!" he said importantly, thrusting out one of the ninja's arms to pass Ebisu the scroll attached to the puppet's hand as Usagi moved her body to pantomime the mouth movements.

But Ebisu did not accept the scroll right away. He was too busy staring back and forth between the unknown, mysterious shinobi, and the panda bear he was riding on that was still eating his slipper. He seemed to be completely befuddled by the sight of the black and white bear.

"What?! You got a problem with me riding my panda summoning?!" Kurama lied with a snarl as he thrust the hand holding the scroll out even further so Ebisu would accept it.

Very slowly, Ebisu took the scroll from the ninja-scarecrow's hand, but an untrusting look was spreading quickly across his face as he looked the puppet directly in the eyes, or rather, he looked Usagi right in the eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously and tried to seem intimidating despite being dressed only in his trademark dark shades, white bath towel, and bandanna with his Leaf forehead protector.

But Kurama was a master of arrogance and was not at all put off by the seemingly important pretense the puny human in front of him was putting on. He actually had to fight the urge to scoff at the sight and instead sound annoyed by the question.

"Excuse me?! I think the question is, who are _you?!"_ he snapped, using one of the puppetry sticks to jab Ebisu in the chest with one of the fingers on the scarecrow, and then smack him upside the head with the whole hand as he maneuvered the hand around to emphasize his words. "We're in a goddamned war, _Sir!_ There's no time for stupid questions!"

As the advisor recovered from the unexpected, mild attack, Kurama motioned for the panda to start walking forward, and quickly spun around so that he could operate the puppet from the opposite side, that way Ebisu wouldn't see him when the fake-ninja's back was revealed to him.

"I should have your Leaf headband for that! Snatch it right off your head!" the fox snarled as the startled Ebisu watched as the scarecrow puppet rode away from him on the panda. "But you know I'm feeling gracious today, so carry on before I report you!"

As Ebisu slowly looked away in order to unroll the scroll and read the message from 'General Minato,' Kurama directed the black and white bear to climb up a tree a few feet away. As the panda lazily did so, he and Usagi worked together to carefully pull the dummy up onto some of the higher branches in order to hide it before Ebisu finished reading their forged letter.

They finished in the nick of time, because seconds after they were done, an alarmed look spread quickly across Ebisu's face, and he spun around to ask the mysterious ninja for details about what could be happening at the front lines of the war. To his shock and despair, the ninja was gone, and the only proof that he had been there at all was the letter he now held in his hands. Ebisu didn't have a choice anymore. Despite his personal feelings about Naruto, he had to tell him that they had to gather up the ninja recruits and leave for the front lines first thing tomorrow. Judging by the contents in this letter, they should really be leaving for the front lines tonight instead of tomorrow!

He bolted away at top speed in the direction of Naruto's personal tent.

Kurama and Usagi both grinned as they watched their plan unfold, and they hopped down from their perch on the tree, and hurried stealthily along after the irritable camp inspector.

* * *

"Want another card, Sasuke?"

"Hit."

"Done."

Naruto passed his best friend a card as he kept his own hand hidden from both his eyes, and also from Gaara's and Shikamaru's, too. The four of them were currently hanging out in his tent, and playing a quick card game before retiring for the night.

Shikamaru glanced down at his hand and sighed. "You all might as well just give up and save yourselves a troublesome defeat. I can already guess what each of you is holding…" he muttered dryly.

Gaara fixed the Nara with a somewhat disapproving expression before looking back down at his own hand. "I do not accept defeat easily, Nara. I intend to win this game."

"Fine, fine. Just don't hit me with hard and compacted sand when you lose…"

Naruto chuckled as he drew a card from the deck, and had to fight the urge to grin when he realized that this card could very well help him win this round.

"You men ready to show your hands?" he asked.

Sasuke sighed as he flopped his cards down, revealing he had zilch.

Gaara calmly set his cards down to reveal he had a two pair of two kings, and two number three's.

Naruto couldn't hold back his grin as he proudly revealed his cards to show he currently had three queens, and two aces.

"Full house, boys! I win!" he cheered.

Sasuke and Gaara both groaned at their loss as the blonde started to reach into the winnings pile to take possession of the large amount of cash they had been playing for, but Shikamaru quickly stopped him.

"Wrong, Naruto. Check it out."

Shikamaru smirked as he laid out his cards, revealing that he had been holding onto a royal flush composed of red hearts.

The others gaped at the lazy shinobi as he helped himself to the winnings. He seemed annoyed by their shock.

"What? I told you all to give up while you could. It's such a drag seeing you all like this…"

"Rematch. Now," Sasuke demanded.

"Yeah, Shikamaru! One more game! This time, I'll wipe the floor with your—!"

Naruto was cut off when the flap entrance to the tent burst open, and Ebisu came sprinting inside still clothed only in his cream-colored bath towel and clutching the scroll he had received tightly in his fist.

"Captain! Urgent news!" the snooty advisor gasped out.

Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru all stared at the less than dignified appearance of the Kage advisor for several moments in disbelief. Then Naruto started to laugh.

"Oh, wow! You look ridiculous, Closet Perv!" he roared, slapping his knees in his amusement.

Gaara's lips actually quirked upwards as he tried to suppress his own laughter. "If you are trying to tempt any of us, I should have you know that none of us are interested," he said in what could be considered almost a teasing tone, rather enjoying the indignant look that was now appearing on Ebisu's face.

"How dare you both! I've brought you all an urgent message that was just given to me by another shinobi from the front lines! It's from General Minato!"

Naruto obnoxious laughter instantly vanished, and his amused expression immediately sobered as he got to his feet.

"From my dad?!" he asked worriedly, seizing the scroll from the half-naked man's hand and scrambling to unfold it.

Sasuke quickly joined him in reading the scroll's contents. Even though he was simply a Co-Captain like Gaara and had no say in when the troops were to leave, Itachi was out on the front lines right now. He could very well be in danger.

As Gaara and Shikamaru crowded around to read the message over their shoulders, Naruto's eyes grew bigger and bigger the more he read. He knew the handwriting in the note wasn't his dad's, but it wasn't exactly uncommon for another ninja to have simply transcribed his father's words to write down in this letter to him. When he was finally done reading, he looked up at Ebisu and nodded his head firmly with a newfound resolve.

"Looks like your opinion on my training of the troops means nothing now. We're needed at the front."

* * *

Hidden in the shadows outside the tent, Kurama smirked when he overheard these words, and glanced down at the happily beaming Usagi sitting down beside his feet.

"Pack your bags, Rabbit! We're moving out!"


	6. The Reality of War

**It has been a little over a month since I first posted this story, and even though it is updated on a weekly basis, I am completely astounded by how popular it has become. 98 followers, 75 Favorites, and 76 reviews... I want to break out in a happy dance! Never before has anything I've written and posted here on FanFiction become so popular so quickly! I want to say thank you to everyone out there who is still reading this little story and thinks it's amazing!**

 **This chapter was a pain to write, considering it is the longest one so far. Over 28,000 words to be exact! It was hard for me to write because even though it's a necessary part of the story, what I really want to start writing is the epic climatic battle at the end of the movie! I have a LOT of ideas for that scene, but before I can start writing them, I need to get the rest of the story written first. I do hope you all like this chapter! It's sad at times, but I think I did an A-OK job with it.**

 **As always, this chapter is unbetaed because Silken Danser is busy. When her schedule clears up, she'll critique it. I miss you Silken! PM me back whenever you have some free time! :)**

 **And now, it is time to thank all the people who contributed to the 23 reviews for the last chapter and officially broke my reviewer record:**

 **\- LynsieTheBraveShadowHuntress**

 **\- jonylol**

 **\- Kelvin king**

 **\- KawaiiKitsune24**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- blukmage19r2**

 **\- eniox27 (x2)**

 **\- reviewer**

 **\- Guest (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- kimmibers**

 **\- NH SHIPPER**

 **\- AnimeLover72636**

 **\- ForsakenMythr2012**

 **\- Ramrikai**

 **\- rk-tronix**

 **\- gio08**

 **\- naruto08738**

 **\- Kakau**

 **\- Miss Rizz**

 **\- Hime-Lover-97**

 **\- Stoic-Wookie00**

 **\- janeee**

 **Thank you all so much for your messages! Your reviews mean everything to me! I hope you will all continue to leave more wonderful reviews in the future! Your little messages always make my day!**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **As always, please remember to review once you're done reading. Remember everyone, reviews are what motivate me to write, so if you want more chapters to come out once a week, review down below and keep my creative juices flowing!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 5/11/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: The Reality of War**

The morning after the leaders of the ninja training camp had received the fake plea for help that had been given to them by the meddlesome Kurama and mischievous Usagi, Naruto assembled all the troops in the middle of camp very early and announced that the main troops in the Allied Shinobi Forces were in trouble, and that they would have to go and help them.

Many of the trainees in camp were alarmed to know that they were finally shipping off to the front lines, and whispered nervously amongst themselves. Despite all their big talk about how they individually were going to be the ninja who personally beheaded Orochimaru and bring great honor and glory to their families and clans, the prospect that they might die on the front lines was indeed a real possibility, and they couldn't help but feel somewhat nervous. Suddenly, the war seemed very, very real…

Hinata was the most nervous one there, though. As soon as it was revealed that they were finally going to be shipping out to assist the main troops at the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Iron, cold fear seeped through her entire body. She knew that the moment she decided to take her father's place in this war, there was a good chance she might end up dying in his stead when her platoon was sent out to fight, but she was still scared. She had no intentions of letting her immortal spirit leave this world anytime in the near future, but she would be a great fool not to be the tiniest bit afraid.

Naruto sensed the nervousness from the rest of the men, and his unusually serious expression softened into a hopeful smile. "Don't worry, men! You've all done well here the past three months! You've all trained and prepared for this moment, and I have complete faith in every last one of you that things will turn out just fine! Now, let's pack up this camp, march off to the front lines, and help the main troops stop that evil snake bastard!"

His encouraging words did the trick, and soon all the men in camp were whooping and cheering eagerly as they thought about being legendary heroes for Japan. Even Hinata rediscovered her resolve and confidence and joined in with a polite clap. She still might not be a prodigy in the art of the Gentle Fist like her cousin Neji was, but she had trained hard at the Allied Shinobi Forces training camp and had become quite strong. She would survive this war and bring great honor to both her father and the entire Hyuuga clan. She knew she would!

Instead of training that day, everyone in camp pitched in to pack everything up so that they could all be ready to leave at dawn the following day. It was hard work packing away the tents and gathering up the necessary supplies, but for once, everyone in camp acted mature and did the work without any complaints. By nighttime, the only things that still needed to be stowed away were people's personal tents, which they needed to sleep in that night, and the next morning, after a quick breakfast, people hurried to pack away their tents with the rest of their personal supplies before falling into line to be ready to march out at the break of dawn.

Hinata didn't have much to pack, but she did have to ensure that Rin was taken care of during the journey to the front lines and find a way to ensure that Kurama and Usagi would remain hidden the entire time as well. It was a puzzling dilemma. Thankfully, the problem took care of itself when Sasuke approached her early that morning. Because she owned the only horse in the camp that was not going to be ridden by himself or the other camp leaders, she would have to allow Rin to be attached to a pull cart that would contain some extra bundles of kunais, shuriken, explosive tags, and other miscellaneous ninja equipment along with medical supplies and extra food for everyone during their long trek to the front lines. Hinata was happy to oblige the demand, because for one, she didn't particularly mind having Rin pull the extra supplies that everyone would surely need later, but more importantly, as Rin was her horse, that meant that she would be in charge of the pull cart, and the pull cart was the perfect place for Kurama and Usagi to hide. With the many different items jumbled about inside and the fact that there was only one entryway in and out of the cart that was covered off by a large cloth curtain, if someone other than Hinata were to stick their head in there to get something out, the little rabbit spirit and the fox guardian would see them in time and be able to hide themselves in some of the clutter before they were spotted.

In was nearly ten o'clock in the morning when the platoon was fully armored and packed and finally set off for the front lines of the war. During the first week of travel, as they set off for the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron, most of the men had overcome their nervousness and were now excited about the prospect of earning honor for their families and clans, so morale had been high. But as week two came to pass, the long march into the wilderness began wearing them down, and people's moods began to sour.

This was especially true for Hinata's newfound friends.

"Man, how much longer until we get there?! It feels like we've been marching off to battle for so long!" Choji complained one particular afternoon as his stomach grumbled from hunger. To preserve the food, everyone was given a limited amount of rations each day, so for the boy who always wanted something to munch on, it was very taxing.

Kiba nodded in agreement as he slouched over the head of his oversized dog Akamaru, who he was currently riding out of sheer laziness. "Tell me about it!" he grumbled. "I'm an Inuzuka, remember, so my animal instincts are also worn out. Hell, even Akamaru is getting tired of feeling like cattle here, isn't that right, boy?"

The white dog whined a low affirmative.

Hinata blinked at the whiny complaint. "If… If Akamaru is g-getting tired, why not walk for a bit, Kiba? I… I'm sure h-he would like a break," she said shyly.

Shino adjusted his dark sunglasses. "I must concur with what Hiro said. It would be a poor choice to wear your ninja dog down now before we even participate in a battle," he said matter-of-factly.

Kiba reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, yeah, you guys are both right… Yo, boy! Stop for a second! I'm getting off for awhile."

The ninja hound barked twice before halting momentarily so his master could climb down. Sure enough, as soon as Kiba hopped down from atop his seat on his lifelong friend's furry back, the large dog had a new spring in his step, and held his head a bit higher than it had been when walking only a few minutes ago.

Kiba smiled sadly when he realized that he had been burdening his canine friend and partner. "Sorry, Akamaru. You should have said something earlier if you were starting to get tired. I wouldn't have minded walking," he said, gently petting his head.

Akamaru yapped twice in acknowledgement and then licked his hand as the group continued their seemingly never-ending march across the country.

Kankuro just groaned at the sight of the two of them. "You might not mind walking, Dog Boy, but I sure as hell do! As soon as your dog rests up, do you think I could have a turn riding him? My aching feet aren't exactly easy to ignore, you know!" he dully groaned.

Hinata was about to send her fellow Suna ninja an empathetic look, but that's when Lee, the energetic young man he was and the only person there that still seemed to be just as happy as the day he had left the training camp, ran forward and wrapped both his arms around Kiba and Kankuro's shoulders.

"Do not think that way, friends! You must let your flames of youth keep burning brightly! Think of something else instead!"

"Oh, yeah? Like what, Bushy Brows?" Kankuro grumbled.

"Why, a girl worth fighting for, of course!" Lee cheerfully answered.

He said this so loudly, almost all the men in a twenty foot radius were able to hear him, including Captain Naruto, Co-Captains Gaara and Sasuke, the Leading Tactician Shikamaru and veteran Commander Kakashi, and the snooty Kage advisor Ebisu. Almost immediately, everyone started chuckling at the idea of girls fawning all over them and began grinning. Women. Their curvaceous bodies were the best thing that existed other than sake and every ninja in the army knew it.

Well, all except one ninja, that is.

Hinata blinked at what Lee had just said, but what confused her even more was the fact that everyone was suddenly becoming all starry-eyed at the prospect of thinking about girls. She remembered that back before her matchmaking session a few months ago, her mother, Tenten, and Hanabi had tried to engage her in a little bit of girl talk as they prospected over what kind of man she could possibly end up getting betrothed to, but judging by the way the men around her were chuckling darkly and waggling their eyebrows, whatever was about to be said next in this conversation was for sure going to embarrass her more than that day at the beauty salon had many months ago.

"H-Huh?" she questioned hesitantly and with slightly pink cheeks, almost afraid to know whatever might be said next.

It was Kiba who answered her. The idea of having women mooning all over him was enough to snap him out of his exhausted mood, and an eager grin was plastered across his face as he threw an arm around the alarmed Hyuuga's shoulders while he fished for something hidden inside of the inner pockets of his black leather jacket.

"It's just like Lee said, Hiro! We men have gotta keep our eyes on the prize for when we get back home! Tits and ass! A girl worth fighting for!" he exclaimed happily. He finally managed to find what he was searching for inside of his jacket, and quickly pulled it out. It was a small piece of paper that he stared at for a moment with a rather lecherous grin, and then he turned his attention back to the slightly uncomfortable Hinata. "This picture has been my motivation all throughout training the past few months. I know that when I go home and bring great honor for my clan, I'll manage to snag a girl as hot as this one!"

He flipped the picture around so that the others could see it. Hinata immediately turned a bright shade of red and ducked out from under his arm so she wouldn't have to keep looking at such an embarrassing image, but the others — Kankuro, Lee, Choji, and Shino — all eagerly crowded around Kiba to take a look, and then began whistling in approval as they gave the Inuzuka a few friendly slaps on the back.

The picture looked like it had been ripped out of a magazine of some sorts, and was of a scantily clad woman in her early twenties that was modeling a pair of red satin lingerie. The sultry look in her eyes combined with her knockout body was more than enough to make all of the boys drool.

Kankuro was whistling in approval. "Not bad, Dog Boy! Not bad at all! Look at the rack on her!"

"Skin paler than the moon itself," noted Shino, actually peering over the top rims of his black sunglasses so as to be able to appraise the photo better.

"So you both get why it's my jerk off picture, huh?" snickered the Inuzuka, waving the photo tauntingly in front of their faces.

Hinata's cheeks brightened even more after she heard that. Why on earth would Kiba brag like that about… about his activities in the bedroom?! There was no way she would ever be able to forget this moment now!

She slowly opened her mouth to try and change the subject, but Kankuro quickly beat her to the punch, and unfortunately for the young, shy heiress, he wanted to continue this conversation, not stop it.

"You want to talk about fantasy women? Try reading book three in Commander Jiraiya's Icha Icha Paradise series! I'd give my right hand and foot to actually be the main character in chapter seven! Oh, the threesome in that is unbelievable! They do it in a hot spring!"

Hinata wanted so badly for the ground beneath her feet to swallow her up. She couldn't believe she was bearing witness to this conversation. Maybe as long as she stayed quiet and focused all her attention on thinking solely about the kinks she still had to work out in her variant of her clan's infamous Rotation, the others would just forget she was here…

"So, your dream fantasy is to one day have a threesome, is that right, Kankuro?" asked Shino with a raised brow and a slightly amused tone in his usually monotone voice.

"You bet! Just wait, the girls back home will marvel at my strength, and adore my battle scars!"

"You all can gush over having two or three girls at once, but there's something even more important that I want out of a lady," said Choji abruptly.

Heads turned to look at Choji in surprise. Hinata more-so than the others. Perhaps Choji was the most decent guy out of all of her army friends. Maybe he actually cared about knowing a girl first instead of just liking her for her body.

"You want something other than just good looks out of a girl?" asked Kiba in amazement.

"Yeah, I couldn't care less what a girl wears or what she looks like," the Akimichi answered. There was a brief pause, and then a sneaky look spread across his face. "What matters to me is what she cooks like!"

The others roared with laughter, but Hinata's expression drooped in disappointment.

"Ha! Only an Akimichi would say something like that!" Kankuro guffawed heartily.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me!" the rotund ninja snapped. "Think about it! A girl might look hot and everything, but unless she can keep me well-fed, I might wither away! Beef! Pork! Chicken! Mmmm! A man needs to eat!"

"Choji, the probability of you thinning down is very unlikely. I cannot even fathom that occurring," said Shino with a slight snicker.

"Well, fine then, mister hotshot Aburame! What do you look for in a woman?!" Choji growled.

Shino's lips curled up ever so slightly. "It is not what I look for exactly in a woman, but it is what my insects look for," he answered cryptically.

Hinata wasn't the only person there to blink twice at that mysterious reply.

"Pardon, friend?" asked Lee.

"The hive in my body is filled with over thousands of insects, so it is basically like having an extra person involved in a relationship. If my insects do not approve of a woman, I do not approve of a woman, and I cannot say that my taste in the opposite sex differs all too much from their personal tastes…"

"And what are your insects' personal tastes?" asked Kankuro impatiently.

This time, Shino didn't bother trying to hide the smirk that was quickly spreading across his lips. "They consume chakra, remember, and their consumption methods can hurt sometimes, so they prefer the company of women who enjoy the… rougher aspects in the bedroom…"

There was a very long, _long_ pause.

Hinata actually thought she might faint for a moment. She should not have heard that. She most definitely should _not_ have heard that! She most definitely did _not_ need to know that the heir to the Aburame clan was into—

"Woo! Men, we've got an S and M lover in the house!" Kankuro whooped, looking deadly impressed at Shino's admittance to his bedroom preferences. "I never actually believed it before, but it's always the quiet ones who are the most interesting!"

"Right on, dude!" cheered Kiba, pumping a fist in the air.

"Kinky!" said Choji with a lecherous grin.

Other than Hinata, whose face was on the verge of turning into a forever permanent shade of scarlet from learning this, only Lee looked disgusted by this announcement.

"How unyouthful of all of you! You are all willing to take any girl that throws themselves at you?! My preference is much more honorable than any of yours!"

"Oh, yeah, Lee? How so?" asked Choji skeptically.

"Because I am after only one girl! The Honorable Granddaughter of the Third Hokage! Sakura Sarutobi!" Lee declared with a great big smile.

Everyone stared at the bowl cut hair styled shinobi in complete shock, including Hinata.

No one but Kankuro in the group realized it, but up ahead, one of the Co-Captains overheard this abrupt proclamation, and his grip on his horse's reins suddenly became much, _much_ tighter. The other Co-Captain, the Captain, and the Leading Tactician all exchanged amused looks when they noticed this, and they too slowed down their horses from where they were riding at the front of the procession with Kakashi and Ebisu so as to ride at the same pace that Hinata and her group were walking. This was far too good for them to miss. They couldn't wait for the obvious show of jealousy to begin. Kankuro immediately began smirking, as he knew exactly what was about to happen next, too. This would definitely be very entertaining. Sure enough, the said Co-Captain was casually slowing down his horse so as to wait for Lee and the rest of the small group to pass by him.

"You… You've met the p-princess of the Land of Fire…?" Hinata breathed in amazement at Lee.

"No, I unfortunately have never been to the Imperial City, Hiro, but I have seen her before on television, and the first time I saw her, I knew that she was the one! She is an angel, straight from heaven! Mark my words, guys! I shall let the power of youth explode in this war and earn lots of honor, and when I do, I shall go to the Imperial City and win Princess Sakura's heart! Just you wait and see! The flames of youth burn ever brightly in my—"

"Lee! If you spent half as much time marching as you do talking, we might very well make it a few more miles today before dark!"

Sasuke Uchiha's black eyes were narrowed sharply on Lee, who was instantly silenced by his superior officer's cold words. Judging by the look on the second born Uchiha's face, he was in a very, very bad mood. It would definitely not be wise to try and backtalk him at the moment.

"Y-Yes, sir, Co-Captain Sasuke… I apologize for my unyouthful lagging…" said Lee, looking rather uncomfortable for the first time any of the others in the group had known him.

Sasuke continued to look down angrily at the green-spandex wearing taijutsu expert for several seconds, making Lee sweat a little in fear. Finally, the Uchiha's eyes softened just the tiniest bit.

"Hn. Consider this a warning. The next time I have to tell you off, you'll be on pack up duty every night for a week."

And with that, the furious Co-Captain kicked his heels into his horse's sides, and urged his stallion to pick up the pace so that he could ride alongside Ebisu and Kakashi, who were both near the front of the procession of men, rather than beside Naruto, Gaara, Shikamaru, and the rest of his friends.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Hinata, Lee, Kiba, Choji, and Shino exchanged puzzled looks.

"What the hell was that all about?" Kiba murmured quietly.

Rambunctious laughter from both Captain Naruto and Kankuro was his immediate reply. Gaara was holding back a slight smirk, and Shikamaru was rolling his eyes, but it was obvious that he was amused, too.

"Might I inquire as to what is so funny?" asked Shino inquisitively to all of the amused men.

"What just happened?! Lee, you just made yourself a very powerful enemy!" Naruto said, trying to suppress his laughter so he wouldn't spook his horse.

Lee looked very confused. "What do you mean, Captain Naruto?"

"You announced for the whole world to hear that you're interested in Pinky, Bushy Brows," said Kankuro with an amused smirk. "Remember, my brother, Naruto, Sasuke, and I all pretty much grew up in the Imperial Court, and Shikamaru joined us not too long ago, so we all know the Hokage's Honorable Granddaughter quite well. Sasuke in particular is the one she's had her eye on for years now."

Lee looked mortified to learn this.

"What?!" he gasped, sounding both shocked and heartbroken.

"Sakura has had feelings for Sasuke ever since his clan immigrated to the Imperial City and she met him back when they were children," explained Gaara, his face seemingly stoic, but his tone definitely sounding entertained by the notion. "He would always reject her when they were younger, but for the past year or so, he has been… how should I put it…? _Different_ in how he behaves around her…"

"Tch. Idiot doesn't even realize he's starting to reciprocate her feelings. So troublesome…" muttered Shikamaru with another exasperated eye roll.

Lee looked so dejected from hearing this. Or at least he did for the first ten seconds, but then a sudden look of realization seemed to spread across his face.

"Wait! If he has yet to confess his feelings, then that means that I still have a chance with the lovely blossom! I shall not give up so easily! The power of youth is on my side!"

Everyone blinked, quite surprised to hear that the green spandex-wearing shinobi was actually willing to challenge the great Sasuke Uchiha on one of the most dangerous battlefields known to man: The Battle for a Woman's Heart.

"Lee, I know that you're quite… enthusiastic about things, but—"

"'But' nothing! It would be unyouthful of me to give up without even trying to at least meet the lovely Kage Princess first! Just watch me win her heart! I shall not fail in this endeavor!"

He was grinning to himself at this notion as he stuck out his thumb in the usual 'nice guy' pose as the others continued to stare at him in disbelief. Shikamaru in particular looked annoyed by this.

"Man, this will be such a drag, being forced to watch you and the human ice cube butt heads with one another," he grumbled.

"You do not understand how much this means to me, Shikamaru! Don't you have a girl that you are fighting for in this war?!"

"Not especially. My dream is to marry just an average woman who's neither super pretty nor super ugly, but above all, is not super troublesome. Just a leisurely housewife type is all I want."

"If that is the case, then you would do well to stay away from our sister, Nara."

Heads turned to look back at the remaining red-headed Co-Captain. Gaara's sea green eyes were narrowed at his longtime friend, and upon hearing what his younger brother had just brought up, even Kankuro started scowling at the lazy shinobi.

Shikamaru looked even more annoyed now. "Hey! You two should know better than anyone that your sister is the prime definition of insane! I just said I didn't want a troublesome woman!"

"Then you shouldn't look so happy and eager to spend time with her whenever she challenges you to a game of shogi, Lazy Ass!" Kankuro snapped.

Hinata had to hold back a small laugh, and judging by her comrades around her, they were struggling to do the same. The brotherly protection Gaara and Kankuro had for their older sister, the Princess Temari, was both admirable and funny.

Shikamaru huffed loudly in annoyance, but it was evident by the barely noticeable pink tinge on his cheeks that he indeed felt something for the Sunaese Kage princess. "You're both making a big deal out of nothing. Just because I've hung out with her before doesn't mean I'm actually interested in her. Like I said, she's far too troublesome."

Gaara studied his expression for several moments silently, but then nodded. "For your sake, Nara, you better not be lying. Friend or not, should your intentions toward our sister change, expect a thorough interrogation, and you should know, I have never been a fan of interrogation… I prefer torture."

"And you know, Lazy Ass, my puppets are equipped with all types of poisons in them. Fatal, paralyzing, excruciatingly painful… so I'd beware if I were you," Kankuro added rather sinisterly.

No one who heard this could blame Shikamaru at all for directing his horse to move the tiniest bit away from the Sand Brothers after that.

"Well, what about you, Co-Captain Gaara?" Choji asked as the group carried on and passed over a large, grassy hill. "Any girl back in the Imperial City you plan on impressing when you get back home?"

"No. I am not seeing anyone currently," said the redhead, a little too quickly.

Kankuro and Naruto both immediately laughed, and this time, it was Shikamaru's turn to smirk.

"Considering what a hard time you were just giving poor Shikamaru right now, Gaara, the least you can do is be honest with everyone!" Naruto chuckled.

"But I did not lie, Naruto. I am not currently in any form of a relationship," the redhead growled.

"Then explain why you've been spending so much of your free time at court lately around our sister's new, cute little dark-haired handmaiden, Baby Bro!" Kankuro teased.

Gaara's ears turned as red as his hair, but he kept a scowl plastered across his face.

"Like you just said, Kankuro, Matsuri is new at court, and you know firsthand that there are plenty of nobles at the Imperial Palace that try to take advantage of young handmaidens. I am simply trying to look after her wellbeing. That is all."

"You never really cared about the wellbeing of _other_ girls, though," Naruto said with a grin. "And I'm pretty sure I spied the two of you one time behind that pillar in—"

"Naruto, I advise you to choose your next words wisely, because Captain of this platoon or not, I'll crush both of your arms with sand should the next thing you say be crude."

"No, Naruto! Details! Now! Did my baby bro finally lose his virginity?!"

The others in the group whooped in amazement and also encouraged Naruto to continue, but Hinata stayed absolutely silent as her face flamed red, and she had to resist the urge to cover her ears. She really did _not_ want to hear about the sexual life of the youngest son of the Kazekage. Thankfully, the heavens smiled down on the young heiress when Naruto quickly shook his head at the rest of the group.

"Sorry, everyone, but I don't want to go to the front lines with two broken arms. My lips are sealed."

"Damn!"

Hinata breathed a small sigh of relief as Kankuro visibly pouted.

"And yourself, Captain?" asked Shino after a moment, turning his attention toward their blonde-haired leader. "Have you someone that you're fighting to impress in this war?"

Hinata's ears instantly perked up. What type of girls did her crush like? Someone who wore elegant kimonos wherever she went and powdered her face with great amounts of make-up every day and exuded an air of confidence about herself in whatever she did, probably. If that was the type of woman Naruto preferred, that didn't matter to Hinata. When she returned home from this war, she would start wearing all the beautiful clothes she owned and would apply make-up to her face on a daily basis just to get him to notice her. She would struggle to overcome her natural shyness, but she'd do it just to get him to like her!

"Oh, just you wait! When this war's over, there's definitely a special girl whose heart I intend to win over!"

Hinata's hopes were shattered upon hearing this. Naruto was already in love with someone? That broke her heart. She couldn't blame the girl who had won his heart though for catching his eye first. For one, she was impersonating a man. Of course Naruto wouldn't be interested in her, and really, even if she had met him randomly while dressed like a girl at some point in time, what were the chances that he would like her anyway? She was such a pathetic person. Too quiet and shy, and stuttering over her sentences all the time. She may not have liked how Lady Anko had treated her during her matchmaking session several months ago, but she had been right about one thing. No man wants a girl who trips over her words all time.

She was so caught up in her slight mental distress, she completely missed the looks of confusion that spread quickly across both Gaara and Shikamaru's faces.

"Who the hell are you talking about? I've never seen you spend any time with girls before, other than when you have to drag Commander Jiraiya away from the bathhouses back home," Shikamaru said.

"Sorry, Shikamaru, but that's a secret! You'll find out soon enough after this war is over," Naruto said with a grin.

And before anyone could question him any further, he trotted further up ahead so he could ride alongside Sasuke and Kakashi.

The others started to grumble about Naruto's clever maneuver to avoid answering the question, but they were soon distracted when they realized that their platoon was currently heading down a path beside a small town, where many pretty young maidens were currently working in a field, gathering crops in wickerwork baskets and planting and watering new seeds in rich patches of exposed earth. The group quickly forgot about Naruto right then and instead began waving to the beautiful civilian girls, and the girls forgot about their work momentarily as they blushed and waved back.

"See, guys? The ladies love a man in armor!" said Kiba crudely as he cheekily waved at a particularly pretty brunette uprooting several ripe carrots from her tilled area in one of the fields. The girl was blushing madly as she waved back, and judging by the way she was eying the Inuzuka's body, she certainly thought he wasn't too bad on the eyes, either.

"I forgot how curvy girls could be after three months in that stinking camp!" Kankuro said as he nearly drooled over the fact that a busty blonde girl's kimono was hiking up her thighs and slightly exposing her long, slender legs. "I'll give you all one guess what I've missed the most since I joined the war!"

"You are not the only one who has despaired over the lack of female company, Kankuro," said Shino. It was hard to tell which girl he was favoring since his dark sunglasses hid his eyes, but judging by the direction his head was pointed in, he seemed to like a girl with long dark hair that was watering some flowers at the edge of the field.

"Agreed! These youthful young blossoms are all quite charming!" Lee cheered. "But still, they don't compare to the lovely Princess Sakura!"

"You don't suppose any of these girls are good cooks, do you?" asked Choji. "If they are, I might just come back to this village after the war! I'd love to get to know that cute redhead over by the well!"

Gaara and Shikamaru both chose to roll their eyes at the comments of the others, but Hinata's face was bright red, and she was trying to tune out their words by focusing solely on keeping a tight grip on Rin's reins as she directed her stallion dragging the pull cart behind her as they continued along past the field of young girls. So far, her plan of staying quiet and not getting involved in this discussion was progressing rather smoothly. No one had asked for her opinion on anything yet, so as long as she kept quiet and didn't say or do anything, the others would just continue to chat with one another and she would simply remain in the background. It was as easy as pie.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans for her.

Inside the cover of the wagon, Kurama had noticed that Hinata had not involved herself at all in this conversation, and had become concerned. In the fox's opinion, unless Hinata spoke up at some point about her opinions on girls, the others might begin to suspect her, and that was something he could not let happen! He had done a lot for this stupid girl to get her this far into the war undetected, and he was not going to let anything happen to spoil his chances at getting his old job and powers back.

In a quick flash of movement, the orange nine-tailed fox stuck his head out from behind the cloth curtain covering the entrance into the pull cart, made a particularly loud wolf-like whistle, and then ducked back into the cover of the wagon.

Hinata's felt the blush in her cheeks rise exponentially from her fox guardian's inappropriate action, but before she could turn and quietly reprimand Kurama for what he had done, she suddenly realized that the women out in the field were now all looking at her because of the whistle, and after a brief moment of consideration, they were now starting to give _her_ a few appraising looks.

Hinata felt embarrassed for a whole new reason now as she dragged Rin behind her and kept her eyes firmly averted from the field. She was mortified by the way the girls out there were starting to giggle amongst themselves because of her. They thought she was a cute boy! She was quite sure she might die!

The others waited until they had left the field of girls far behind before they started confronting her.

"Woo! Wow, Stutters! I bet the local girls back home thought you were quite the charmer!" said Kiba, nudging her ribs slightly with his elbow.

"Yeah, one whistle from you and you had all the girls out there in the palm of your hand!" said Kankuro in amazement.

Hinata wanted to just disappear. "Oh, r-really? I… I g-guess so…" she said rather simply, not wanting to say too much.

"Don't act modest, Hiro! The power of youth seems to be on your side when it comes to the ladies!" said Lee enthusiastically.

"Lee is correct. Those women thought you had no faults," said Shino approvingly.

"To them, you looked like a major find," agreed Choji.

"I… I'm pretty s-sure that was just because I'm the Hyuuga heir… Other than t-that, I… I'm not a-all that interesting…" Hinata said quietly, wishing desperately that the heat in her cheeks would die away.

"Don't act modest! You might have had a rough start at the beginning of training, but you slowly became the top recruit at camp! You could have any woman you want!" Kiba countered.

"Yeah, tell us, dude! What's your preference when it comes to chicks?" asked Kankuro.

Everyone crowded around, anxious to hear what the great 'Hiro' Hyuuga looked for in the opposite sex. Even Gaara and Shikamaru were somewhat curious, and they too listened in.

For a long moment, Hinata didn't say anything, as she wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. She couldn't very well tell them that she liked a certain spiky blonde-haired young man with deep blue eyes and whisker-like scars on each of his cheeks. They would for sure think she was gay! But how was she supposed to lie about her so-called manly preferences in girls?

"Um… how 'bout a g-girl who's got a brain… and always s-speaks her mind…?" she offered quietly, hoping that maybe at least one of them liked a bit more than just a pretty face on a girl and maybe wanted someone with a bit of personality.

There was a brief pause as everyone stared at her in disbelief, and then, all at once, everyone exclaimed,

"Nah!"

Hinata stared, feeling her womanly pride flare in dismay. She might be shy and wasn't all that good with confrontation, but she wasn't just an object for someone to collect and just admire for her beauty or to be used whenever her owner saw fit! She was a human being! She had feelings!

Still, she wisely kept those opinions to herself and simply gripped Rin's reins a bit tighter. She knew better than to start getting into an argument about sexism. People would for sure know something was up if she said something like that.

Unfortunately, Kiba had more than just a few choice things to say about her so-called preference in ladies.

"Stutters, you definitely need to rethink your idea of good women and take some advice from me! Trust me, ten minutes with me as your coach, and you'll learn everything you need to know about girls. My manly ways and turn of phrase have thrilled so many girls in the past!"

As Kiba marched onward to walk beside his dog, looking extremely proud of himself, Choji snickered.

"Oh, yeah? You think you're such a lady killer? Try picking up a girl after this!"

Before Kiba or even Akamaru could stop him, the Akimichi playfully shoved him forward, making the Inuzuka trip and land face first into a large pile of mud.

Everyone except Hinata laughed as Kiba stood back up, now completely covered from head-to-toe in wet and sticky mud. He playfully glared at the rotund man, and then chased after Choji when he tried to run away.

Everyone else whooped and cheered in amusement from the playful antics, but Hinata did not join in with the merriment. Her cheeks stayed a fierce shade of pink as she marched on, still so embarrassed from all this talk about winning the hearts of girls after the end of the war.

* * *

Days passed by, and soon the small band of ninjas finally entered the snowy region of the Land of Iron. The men bundled up in extra layers of clothing beneath their chainmail and flak jackets, but despite the frosty temperatures, everyone's spirits were up as the main topic of discussion still remained focused on one thing and one thing alone:

Girls.

Hinata really didn't understand why they were all making such a big fuss about this. She could totally see and understand girls being happy and relieved that their husbands or boyfriends returned home from war safe and sound once again, but she simply couldn't see them fawning all over the men here like some of them were predicting would happen when they went back to their hometowns or villages as war heroes. She had even at one point heard one man bet that his fiancé would give him a tauntingly sexy striptease the night he returned home from the war. Hearing that made Hinata blush as usual, but she really wasn't sure if that would happen the first night he got home. If she were the one who had been waiting for her fiancé to return home from war, the night he returned home, she would want to just lie in his embrace for a whole night and just feel relieved that the love of her life was with her again and not dead. Maybe a few days after that she would want to… well, make love, but not that first night. Maybe that was silly of her, but it was how she personally felt on it.

Even Ebisu got in on the discussion, and one day he announced that even he had a girl he had feelings for. Many of the men in his company, including Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, Shikamaru, and Kakashi, all believed him to be lying. Naturally, the Kage advisor was miffed by their lack of belief in him.

"How dare you all believe me to be dishonest! I've a girl back home who's unlike any other!" he angrily boasted.

Kiba snorted at his words, and as he and his friends passed by the mounted inspector, he muttered loudly for many of the men in the nearby vicinity to hear, "Yeah, the only girl who'd love him is his mother!"

Everyone who had heard him howled with laughter and the joke spread faster than the plague among the men. Ebisu hatefully glared at the crude Inuzuka, but not even he had the power to do damage control for the joke at his expense. He just had to live with everyone in the troops calling him a 'whipped momma's boy!' for the next few hours while he sat there on his horse with a bright red face as he made a note of the inappropriate joke on his trusty clipboard.

Still though, the only thing on everyone's mind was about how when they all came home in victory, the ladies would line up at their front doors and would all but throw themselves at them. Hinata grew more embarrassed as the days went by and the topic of discussion never changed. Which was why, on day four of entering the Land of Iron, she finally elected to walk alone during the march through the snowy mountains. She just couldn't bear to keep listening to anymore crude, sexual details about the female body from her male companions.

Naturally, Kurama was not pleased by her decision to walk alone.

"Girl, I do not care how embarrassed you are by all this talk about women and sex! Go back over to your friends and just listen to them if you won't join in on the conversations!"

"N-No, Kurama. I… I can't l-listen to their talk anymore. I need one day of not h-hearing about all that…"

"You are acting foolishly! What man would not want to hear about the conquests of his friends?!"

From somewhere inside the cover of the wagon, Hinata heard Usagi squeak something that sounded like agreement.

"A man who is s-supposedly a very private person and has… and has already heard more than h-his fair share of his friend's bedroom antics…"

Kurama sighed, but before he could say anything else, there was a loud neigh from a horse that other than Rin, and they both turned in time to see Naruto was riding his horse toward them.

Kurama swiftly hid himself back inside the supplies of the pull cart, while Hinata quickly turned red and looked away. Ever since Naruto had admitted to her and her friends that he had a girl of his own back home that he really liked, Hinata had felt awkward around him. She knew it was silly of her, but part of her had been hoping that maybe if she managed to get through this war without her true gender being discovered, she could somehow reintroduce herself to Naruto while as a girl and try to win his heart then. It was painful to be around him now that she knew that that would never happen.

When Naruto finally approached her, he slowed his horse down to a stop for a moment and dismounted, and then began walking along the snowy mountainside beside her as he began leading his horse along behind him by his reins.

"Yo! Hiro! What'cha doing hanging around by yourself back here? Why aren't you with everyone else and talking with your friends?" he asked curiously.

Hinata's cheeks turned a slight bit pinker at the mere thought of confessing to her secret lo… _crush_ that she was embarrassed by all the talk about sex that everyone else seemed so keen to discuss. How was she supposed to go about this?

"I… I grow t-tired of what everyone's been talking about for… for the p-past few days…" she said softly in her scruffy male voice.

To her surprise, instead of looking befuddled or even amused at her for not wanting to be involved in all the crude talk the others were making, Naruto just nodded in understanding.

"I get what you mean. It was cool hearing about all that for the first day or so, but now it's getting old! And besides, we're almost at the village my dad told me to meet him at when we join him at the front lines, so the men really should calm down."

"Oh? W-We're almost there?"

"Yeah, I think it's just a little farther. We'll definitely be there before nightfall."

"That's g-good."

They walked side by side in silence for a time as they did their best to ignore all the talk that they could overhear from the rest of the men not too far away, and Hinata felt her face flush even harder. Hinata could never have predicted just how painful it was to be so close to someone she truly cared for with all her heart, but knew she could never approach him romantically, the way she desperately wanted to. It was so hard to refrain from doing anything other than just grip Rin's reins tightly in her hand and shuffle one foot in front of the other across the snowy terrain.

A sudden cold flurry of snowflakes suddenly blew through the mountain pass, and both Naruto and Hinata shivered when the icy wind nipped at their noses.

"Brr! It's freezing!" Naruto complained, running both his hands up and down his arms for a moment to try and warm up.

Hinata nodded, and then tentatively offered Rin's reins to him.

"C-Could you hold these for a second, please? I… I want to g-get something out of my knapsack…"

"Sure. Hand them over."

Hinata handed him the reins, and then leaned back inside the pull cart to retrieve her knapsack that she had thrown into it earlier when she grew tired of lugging it around on her shoulders. She rummaged about inside it for a moment until she found her red scarf, and then tossed her bag back inside the cart and returned to Naruto's side.

As she threw the long, red wool winter garment on around her neck and took back Rin's reins, however, she suddenly noticed that Naruto was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. He almost looked amazed.

"N-Naruto? What's w-wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Naruto blinked, and seemed to snap out of his sudden train of thought. "Oh! Sorry, 'bout that, Hiro. It's just… that scarf…"

"What? W-What's wrong with my scarf?" Hinata questioned curiously.

"It… It just looks a lot like one I used to have a long time ago…"

Hinata's world came to a crashing halt.

"Wh… What…?"

"I used to have a scarf like that back when I was a kid, but I gave it away to a girl to cheer her up. I think she was a Hyuuga like you, come to think of it."

Hinata thought she might faint. All this time, she had thought Naruto had looked familiar to her. This… This wasn't possible… It wasn't possible that he could actually be the boy who had protected her from bullies back when she was a little girl… could he?

"Why… Why w-would you choose to give away your scarf?" she asked, being careful not to sound too desperate to know the answer and simply seem nonchalant.

"Well, remember how I told you before that my whole clan immigrated to the Imperial City after the end of the Third Great War when my dad became famous?"

Hinata slowly nodded.

"Well, before we did, my dad, my mom, and I all went to this big funeral in my hometown for a Hyuuga that had died in the war that my dad had personally known. I think you said before that an uncle of yours died when you were a kid?"

"Yes, my… my Uncle H-Hizashi…"

"It must have been for him, I guess… Anyway, I got bored with the funeral proceedings — No offense, of course! — and I wandered off to play. After a while, I suddenly heard some kids yelling. I got excited, thinking that there was someone my own age I could play with, so I ran towards the yelling. Only, I didn't find kids playing. I found these three boys teasing a Hyuuga girl, saying that her pearlescent eyes were creepy. I'm not gonna lie, I thought she was really cute! Short blue hair kind of like yours, Hiro, and her eyes were definitely _not_ creepy! They really suited her! Made her look really pretty! Well, I got mad seeing them tease her like that, so I picked a fight. Got my ass handed to me, and they even tore up the scarf I'd been wearing. I think I might have blacked out or something after that, because the next thing I remember is waking up on the ground with the girl they'd been bullying hovering over me, and the jerks were nowhere in sight. She was really shy, kind of like you. She quietly mumbled an apology for getting me involved and that my scarf got messed up, but I didn't care. I let her keep it. I was going to ask her if maybe she wanted to play, but that's when I heard my mom calling for me, so I ran off. My only regret was that I never found out her name or told her mine!"

Hinata's mind had gone completely blank after hearing all this. She knew this story very well, because the girl that Naruto had been talking about was her. He really _was_ the boy who had saved her back when she was a little girl. Naruto was her first love!

"I… I think I k-know which girl you're talking about…" Hinata whispered, her pearlescent eyes still wide from this shocking revelation. "She lent me this s-scarf as a good luck charm to get home safely. It probably is y-yours…"

"You know who she is?! Really?! Can you tell me?! I told myself that after this war, I was going to try and figure out who she is! She's the only girl I've ever really liked, Hiro! So if you can tell me who she is, you'll really be doing me a favor!"

Hinata really didn't know what she was supposed to say. Should she lie? Should she tell him that the scarf had been given to her by herself, since 'Hiro' was the nonexistent twin brother of Hinata, otherwise known as herself? Or should she take her chances and confess to Naruto that she was really a girl, and that she had the scarf because she was the girl he had met all those years ago?

What was she supposed to say?

"Uh… well—"

"Naruto! There's smoke in the distance! It's probably from the village!"

Naruto and Hinata both turned upon hearing Kakashi's voice, and he was even waving his hand in a silent beckon for Naruto to hurry to the front of the long line of men. Sure enough, the two of them could see clouds of smoke in the distance just beyond the cover of a snowy hill, indicating that they were indeed almost there. As the leading Captain, Naruto should be up front, riding alongside Kakashi, Ebisu, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Gaara for when they reached the village and met up with the main division of troops being led by General Minato on the front lines.

Naruto realized this, and shot Hinata an apologetic look as he got back on his horse. "Looks like I'm needed up front, so I'll have to take a rain check on hearing about this mystery girl. Tell me later, okay, Hiro?!"

"Um… o-okay, Naruto…"

"Great! See you, later!"

As Naruto rode off to join his teacher, three best friends, and the snooty advisor at the front of the ninja platoon, Hinata tugged a tad bit harder on Rin's reins to get her stallion to pick up the pace. She really shouldn't lag behind everyone else now that they were approaching the village. The sooner they passed through this village, the sooner they could join the main army at the front lines just beyond.

She wasn't the only one there who was eager to hurriedly climb up the small hill. Every other man in the army was talking excitedly amongst themselves as they picked up the pace. They were finally here! They were finally going to experience this war firsthand, and find out just what it meant to be the ninja representative for their families and clans and to bring honor to their family trees. It was definitely a defining moment for all of them.

Hinata hurried to usher Rin behind her as she rejoined her friends, who looked over at her curiously.

"Where'd you go, Hiro? You just disappeared!" Choji exclaimed.

"Yeah, why'd you go off on your own like that?" Kiba asked.

"Just… Just wanted s-some time alone, is all…" she said with a nonchalant wave of her hand. So long as she didn't make a big deal out of not wanting to hear all of them continuously bragging on and on about the girls they were fighting for back home, they wouldn't, either.

Sure enough, Choji and Kiba accepted her words with simple nods, as they were more interested in hurrying along with everyone else over the hill to reach the village.

Everyone chattered excitedly as they crossed the last few steps, and when they at last made it to the very top of the hill, they saw…

The crumbling ruins of a once prosperous village.

The pure white snow in the crumpled remains of the once peaceful little village was trampled with mounds of intertwining footprints revealing where the inhabitants of the town had tried to run away from their pillagers and was stained crimson red with great splatters of blood. Orange and red embers, thick black clouds of smoke, and sooty ashes swirled through the wintry air from the dying flames of minor fires that were ablaze within the blackened charcoaled wreckage of where houses and other buildings had once stood. Beside the main entrance to the village, the village bell was dented and damaged from the attack and hanging only by a few strands of rope on its broken wooden post, but was still sadly tolling its melody from the very rare breaths of wind that could be felt in the stillness of the mountainside air.

The village had obviously been like this for awhile, now…

For a long time, no one in the minor ninja division dared to speak. Everyone in the platoon just stood at the top of the hill feeling both horrified and absolutely sick to their stomachs as they absorbed what they were staring at. Despite many of the men in the army already being registered ninjas, none of them had ever seen carnage on this scale before. A simple mission of ridding a town of petty thieves was the not the same thing as seeing an entire village flattened and burned down completely from simply being in the path of ninjas who had the goal of destroying the heart of the country. This village had been raped, pillaged, and destroyed for no other purpose than simply because the ninjas in the Sound army had wanted to raid a village to restock and resupply their necessities. Overall, the village had just been one of the many wounds that had been inflicted on all of Japan for the cost of the war.

This wasn't a game anymore to the men who had only minutes ago been talking and joking around with their friends about wanting to be war heroes simply because they wanted to impress the ladies back home.

This right here was the reason why they were all ninjas in the Allied Shinobi Forces.

This was the reality of war.

Hinata's whole face turned white with pure horror as she stared down at the carnage of destruction. She felt sick to her stomach. This had just been a simple, ordinary town. It had nothing to do with the war efforts. The people here did not deserve this, or the fate that had undoubtedly been handed to them…

Kurama and Usagi carefully poked their heads out from their hiding places in the pull cart to see why everyone had suddenly stopped talking, but when they saw the smoky remains of the once peaceful little village, they too were shocked into silence. Tiny Usagi quietly bleated sadly when she saw the destruction and almost immediately closed her eyes, but Kurama just stared on sadly. As a Hyuuga family guardian, he had seen things like this before when he had served Hizaki Hyuuga in a war many decades ago, but that still didn't make seeing something like this any easier. The entire village was just _gone._

Up ahead, Naruto was gulping thickly as he gazed sorrowfully down at the once lively town. He was just as horrified to see this as any of the other men here, but he still had a job to do. He recovered from his momentary shock and horror, and whistled loudly to get everyone's attention.

"We're going down there! We'll search for survivors!" he announced.

Everyone wordlessly nodded, and followed the Captain as he led the march down the hill and up to the desolate remains of the town. When they approached the ruins of the archway that had once been the main entryway into the town, the men silently spread out to begin their search, their movements quite slow and they were all still wide-eyed from their sudden shock. Those who had been riding horses slowly dismounted them and tied the reins to bits of wood that had not caught on fire before following the rest of the troops into the wreckage.

Hinata parked Rin and the pull cart a little ways off to the side, near the crumbling archway of the main gate before slowly making her way into the village. She was horrified by all this destruction, but what freaked her out even more were the bodies of the townsfolk that were sprawled out across the snow.

Terrified children were clumped up in tiny balls from trying to hide as their parents laid in front of them in an effort to shield them from harm.

Women were spread across the lifeless bodies of their husbands or lovers with tears frozen across their white cheeks before being murdered themselves.

Elderly folks that were too old and weak to run had been beaten to death and their brittle bones were cracked in all the wrong ways as their glazed, unseeing eyes stared up helplessly at the sky.

Hinata's eyes filled with tears as she searched helplessly amongst the many bodies for any sign of movement or possibly life, but her efforts were fruitless. Each person she came across was completely devoid of breath and was cold to the touch. Judging by the amount of snow that had piled up on them since their unfortunate ends, they had to have all been here a few days, if not more…

As Hinata moved aside some scraps of a torn bit of flimsy gray fabric dangling from a scorched wooden post to check inside the remains of a house, she gasped at what she found. There was the body of a little girl of maybe ten or eleven lying in the snow in her soft pink nightdress, and a small rag doll was lying beside one of her hands and staring up with its black button eyes at the sky. The little girl had a terrified look frozen on her face as tearstains ran down her frozen white cheeks, and a great pool of blood was gathered in a large puddle underneath her body from the very obvious stab wound in her stomach.

Hinata let her tears fall as she hesitantly stepped forward to pick up the small doll beside the little body. What kind of monsters would do this to an innocent child? This little girl… she couldn't have been much younger than Hanabi… The idea of someone killing her precious little sister in such a gruesome way was enough to make her want to start openly weeping, but Hinata only allowed herself to cry silently. Acting like that would not be a good idea.

As Hinata collected the doll and started to stand back up again from her bent position, she stole another sad look at the little girl, but then she noticed something she hadn't seen initially when first approaching the child, and she could have sworn that she felt her heart literally stop beating.

In addition to the blood surrounding the little girl's body where she had been stabbed to death, there was also dried blood on her thighs.

Blood that had nothing to do with the stab wound.

A small, strangled scream escaped from Hinata's lips when she realized what had been done to the small girl, and upon feeling her stomach churning from the awfulness of this horrible witnessed aftermath, the young heiress scrambled back outside the ruins of the house with the doll still in her hand, and fell to her knees as she threw up violently in the bloodstained snow before sobbing loudly and then getting sick again. At that moment, Hinata was unashamed of her weak stomach and tears, and didn't care if crying and being sick from what she had just seen made her look unmanly to everyone else. If what realizing what had happened to that small, innocent little girl was not a reasonable excuse for her to drop her masculine act for a few minutes and simply let her horror of the situation out in her own girly way, then she didn't know what was.

Screw every man in the Allied Shinobi Forces right now.

She had a right to cry.

Because deep down, Hinata was now terrified at the prospect that such a thing could possibly happen to sweet little Hanabi if they did not win this war.

As she continued openly crying on her knees beside the wreckage of the house and clutching the little rag doll tightly in her hand while she emptied out the contents of her stomach, someone else nearby happened to notice her distress, and made his way toward her with noticeable concern on his face.

"Hiro?" asked the person worriedly.

Hinata wiped the traces of vomit away from the edges of her mouth with the back of her hand, and looked up to see who had found her. Naruto was staring down at her worriedly, very obviously wondering what had happened and what she had seen that had made her react in such a distressful way.

With another loud sob, Hinata just pointed wordlessly at the flap entrance behind her, unable to bring herself to speak the words of the cruel fate she had seen happen to the child inside, but when she saw Naruto take a few steps forward to take a look and see for himself what had happened, she forced her lips to move so as to try and warn him.

"Don't… Don't go in there…" she whispered pleadingly.

Naruto gazed at her uneasily for a few seconds, but he still shook aside her fearful warning and shoved the bits of cloth aside to walk in. Moments later, a choked shout echoed from the hollowed house, and he slowly backed outside again with a horrified look on his own ghostly white face, unable to move his eyes away from the ripped cloth hanging over the entrance to the house.

"That… That little girl…" he gasped, sounding just as shocked and appalled at what he had seen as Hinata still was. "Did they…? I mean… was she…?"

"Y-Yeah…" Hinata nodded as she shakily stood back up again, the doll still firmly clenched in her hand. "She… She w-was…"

For a long time, Naruto did not speak. He just stood there staring at the wreckage of the house in unmistakable shock and horror. It was clear that despite his many years of being a full-fledged shinobi, he had never seen something like _that_ before, and this was just as much a shock to him as it was to her. Finally, he turned to stare at Hinata with a scared, empty expression.

"I… I don't understand…" he said, his voice sounding hollow and dead. "My dad… Pervy Sage… Commander Itachi… They all should've been here…"

Hinata nodded wordlessly in silent agreement. This was supposed to be the town right at the edge of the main army in the Allied Shinobi Forces. The ninjas in the army should have defended this innocent town from the Sound ninjas. Why hadn't they done anything to protect the people here from this horrible fate?

They barely had time to ponder this unasked question when their attention was called.

"Captain!"

"Naruto!"

The two looked up upon hearing Ebisu's and Kakashi's shouts, and they spotted the two ninja veterans standing a little ways off from the desolate remains of the town as they waved Naruto over. Kakashi's one visible eye was giving Naruto a sorrowful look, but Ebisu was just standing frozen in place as he slowly raised his hand, and pointed at something a little ways downhill from where they were standing.

Naruto and Hinata trudged silently through the snow toward them, as did some of the other men in the nearby vicinity, although Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru took up the lead in marching over to see what Kakashi and Ebisu had found. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been good. Ebisu might be dick, but he was just as much of an experienced shinobi as Kakashi was, and if what they had seen was enough to put the crabby advisor into a state of shock and make Kakashi look that visibly upset, it had to be very, very bad…

When everyone finally reached the two somewhat older shinobi, every man there gasped in utter horror at what they discovered.

It was not more dead civilians.

It was the entirety of the main squad of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

Every last ninja had been seemingly slaughtered during some sort of epic battle, and they all lay sprawled out on the ground with fresh blankets of snow covering their bodies, indicating that the battle had happened not too long before or after the Sound army had mercilessly killed all the townsfolk in the village.

Kunais and shuriken stars were still clutched tightly in frozen hands.

Blood soaked out from injuries that had been caused by either ninja weapons or by great and powerful jutsus.

Wagons filled with supplies had been overturned and damaged beyond any hopes of repair. Their wheels turned around rather pitifully in the air even though they would never be used again and their contents were sprawled out across the blood soaked snowy terrain.

Flags with the imperial crest of the newly formed Japan were ripped and tattered as they flapped about lightly in the wind, each of them stained with great splatters of bright red blood.

It was highly doubtful that there were any survivors.

For a long time, no one spoke. Everyone just stood there together and stared in absolute shock and horror at the seemingly never-ending sea of death. If they had all thought the number of people killed in the village had added up to a large number of bodies, it was nothing compared to this. That death toll was less than a quarter of the number of ninja deaths that had been caused by the evil Orochimaru and his Sound shinobi.

The moment of shock and silent standoff was broken by Naruto, who took a hesitant step forward towards the graveyard of ninjas, his face even paler than it had been moments ago when he and Hinata had discovered the body of the dead girl.

"Dad…" he whispered fearfully, sounding more frightened than anyone there had ever heard him before. "Pervy Sage…"

He took another uncertain step forward, but then a strangled, terrified scream erupted from the blonde young man's mouth before he broke into a full out run towards the endless field of ninja corpses.

"Dad! Pervy Sage!" he shouted, his head turning in every direction so as to try and find the bodies of his father and godfather.

He wasn't the only one, either. Not even a second later, Sasuke ran forward, too, and his usually stoic face was showing just as much panic as Naruto's was.

"Itachi!" the second born Uchiha shouted out in terror.

Silently, everyone else cautiously stepped forward to join in the search for the General and the two leading Commanders.

Hinata's heart ached painfully in her chest from hearing Naruto's desperate cries, and she too joined in the search for the three men. She couldn't begin to imagine the pain he had to be experiencing right now as he worried about the fate of two of the most important people in his life. If she had discovered in such a horrible way that someone that she loved dearly had most likely been killed in such a gruesome way, she would probably be worse than he or Sasuke were right now. She would probably become hysterical in her grief.

She spied a flash of blonde hair on one particular ninja lying face down in the snow, and immediately headed straight towards the body. Perhaps this was General Minato. If it was, she would have to call over Naruto immediately of course, but she didn't know how she would be able to break the news to him that she had found his father's body.

She got down on her hands and knees, and flipped over the body to check.

To her horror, it actually wasn't Minato Namikaze.

It was Inoichi Yamanaka.

For a long moment, Hinata didn't move. She was stunned. Completely stunned. She wasn't close friends with Ino back home, but she was still a nice girl, and during the few rare chances that Hinata had met and spoken with her father, she had come to know that he was a good and honorable man. He hadn't deserved this; to meet such a tragic end in the snow with kunais embedded deeply in his chest. He should have lived a long life and died a rather peaceful death at home, surrounded by the rest of the members of his clan, but more importantly, with his wife and Ino there beside him, telling him that they loved him.

Hinata gulped, but then took his Konoha forehead protector off his head and stuffed it away into one of the many pockets in her green flak jacket while making a mental note to pack it away into her knapsack later, and then carefully laid the blonde man back down in the snow and folded his hands neatly together across his chest. Should she survive this war, she would have to remember to pay her respects to Ino and her clan when she went back home and return his Leaf headband to them. It was the least she could do for all of them.

As she stood back up, she suddenly heard a loud gasp of horror from somewhere nearby, and she quickly turned. Sasuke had apparently found his older brother's body. She couldn't really get a good look at what the cause of death had been for the Uchiha heir, but judging by the fact that his eyes seemed to be crying trails of dried blood from overuse of his Sharingan and over half of his body seemed to be almost burned, it definitely hadn't been a quick and painless end for the Commander.

Sasuke was kneeling down beside Itachi's body, his face seemingly emotionless, but those that knew him well could tell that he was shocked and horrified by finding his older brother in such a state.

Seeing Sasuke, one of his oldest friends, so emotionally distraught seemed to snap Naruto out of his own panic for a moment, and he started to carefully approach his best friend, but that train of thought came to a complete halt when he heard his name being called.

"Naruto! Over here!" Shikamaru shouted, waving his hand to gesture for his friend to come his way. He was standing beside two bodies in the endless mass of corpses, and judging by the look on his face, he was desperately wishing he had not found these particular bodies just so he wouldn't have to be the one to reveal to Naruto, his good friend, that his worst fears were officially confirmed.

With a noticeable gulp, Naruto turned away from Sasuke and instead walked shakily up to Shikamaru. He fell to his knees when he saw the first body.

Commander Jiraiya, the Legendary Toad Sage, the world's greatest self-proclaimed super pervert, and famous erotic novelist of the adult book series Icha Icha Paradise, was lying on his stomach in the snow, his throat having been completely crushed by some kind of outside source of pressure, and there were several long black chakra conducting rods protruding from his back that had long since stopped oozing out great globs of blood. His long, spiky white hair was stained crimson from the mess, and splayed out in all directions as he laid there in the snow, his dark eyes never to open and see again.

Naruto just stared at his godfather and sensei for several moments as choked back particularly loud gasps of pain. In blank shock, he slowly removed the rods pinning his mentor down to the ground one by one, stared with wide eyes as more blood spilled out from the holes left behind in his body despite having been dead for days now, and then dared to turn his head to look over at the second body. The body of his fallen father.

Minato Namikaze was flat on his back, and one of his hands was still gripping one of his trademark tri-pronged kunai tightly in his fist. There was an enormous hole in his stomach that had been most likely caused by some kind of powerful jutsu, and the blood that had dried around him in the snow formed a large puddle. Multiple cuts covered almost every inch of his skin, indicating that whoever had been the one to kill him had all but tortured him as he slowly bled to death from the wound in his stomach. The death of the man who would have become the Fourth Hokage of the Land of Fire had been a slow and agonizing one, not quick. His long white overcoat with red flames at the bottom was ripped in places and tainted with splatters of his own blood. He had gone down fighting until his last breath. But still, his expression was nothing short of peaceful as his glazed over blue eyes stared up unseeingly at the faraway sky. His last thoughts on earth had not been of the battle he had lost, but apparently of something much happier. Probably of Naruto himself and his wonderful wife Kushina…

No one dared to say anything as Naruto started openly crying beside both of the bodies. At that moment, he was not the Captain of the last remaining ninjas in the Allied Shinobi Forces. He was simply a young man who had just lost his father and godfather all at once, and he was going to grieve them regardless of what anyone else in the squad thought.

But still, no one, not even the annoying Ebisu, looked down on Naruto for openly displaying his grief for everyone to see, nor did they look down on Sasuke either when his eyes started watering. No one deserved to lose their family in such a shockingly gruesome way.

Gaara, the only leader there who was not an emotional mess from having lost a beloved member of his family, suddenly stepped forward right then, and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Start gathering the bodies," he ordered sadly. "The snow is too stiff to bury them, so those of you that know fire jutsus, make a large fire in front of the village. We'll honor this town before moving on. Let's get to work."

Everyone silently nodded at the youngest son of the Kazekage's orders, and people slowly started to disperse from the battlefield. Those that knew any type of fire release jutsus wandered sadly away from the field of the dead to create a large fire right in front of the burned entrance to the village, while everyone else miserably started to gather the bodies of the deceased and began carrying them towards the rapidly growing flames. This would undoubtedly take some precious time away from their duties in finding and stopping Orochimaru and his horrible army of Sound Ninjas, but no one cared. It was an important thing to do, honoring the dead, and above all, it was the right thing to do.

Hinata pocketed the rag doll and openly wept as she slowly dragged the body of Inoichi Yamanaka through the snow, unable to carry him since he was so heavy, but she walked slowly and made sure that his body didn't accidentally bang into any of the fallen debris from the wreckage of the town as she brought him toward the funeral fire. Lee noticed her struggling to carry him as she approached the great blazing flames, and gently set the body he had brought over into the ashes before approaching her.

"Do you need a hand?" he asked, his usually bright and cheery voice sounding so forlorn and sad from witnessing all this.

Hinata dried her tears with the back of her hand and shook her head. "No… N-Not with this one…" she said sadly.

"Did you know him?" the green spandex-wearing shinobi asked.

"He… He was the head of a m-minor clan in my village…" she whispered. "I… I didn't talk t-to him much, but… but he w-was a good man…"

Lee nodded in understanding, and then wandered away quietly to bring over some more bodies.

When Hinata at last was in front of the roaring fire, she had trouble initially with adjusting the Yamanaka patriarch's body so as to lay him to rest, but when she finally managed to maneuver him into the dancing and crackling flames, she bowed her head respectfully and murmured a quick little prayer in his honor before heading back into the village. There was one more body in particular that she had to collect before dealing with the random villagers and unknown shinobi.

With shaky legs and a heavy heart, she made her way back to the ruins of the house with the corpse of the little girl she had found earlier, and began sobbing loudly as she carried the small body out of the house and back toward the large fire. Again, she was thinking about Hanabi, and imagining that it was her she was holding in her arms as she prepared to lay her down into her funeral sleep in the large flames. This… This was all so wrong! How could anyone do this to an innocent child?! The deaths in the army she understood and accepted, because those had been honorable deaths during a battle, but the little girl who was in her arms right now? This had been a perverse death of the highest degree. It was disgusting.

As Hinata carried the small girl closer to the fire, the other ninjas gasped in horror when they saw the dried blood on the girl's thighs and also realized what had happened to her before she died, but Hinata didn't even see or hear them. She just walked with tunnel vision toward the fire, and then gently set the child down into the flames. Hopefully, her soul would find peace in heaven alongside the souls of her family and fellow villagers.

The whole process of gathering up all the fallen shinobi in the army and the bodies of the villagers took several hours, but pretty soon, there were only three bodies left to burn. The bodies of the leading Commanders and the General.

Sasuke approached the fire first as he carried the body of his brother in his arms, his face seemingly solemn, but everyone could tell from how red his eyes were that he, the generally stoic-faced Co-Captain, had definitely cried for a long time after finding him.

Everyone kept their distance and allowed the new heir to the prestigious Uchiha clan the chance to say goodbye to his elder brother in peace as he approached the flames. Sasuke said nothing as he laid Itachi to rest in the crackling inferno. He just kept the solemn, but still somehow sad expression on his face the whole time, and when Itachi was finally fully in the flames, he didn't stand around to watch him burn. He turned away sharply and quickly left the fire as though nothing had ever happened. Nobody did anything when they saw this. Everyone dealt with grief in different ways. If Sasuke didn't want to openly cry for his brother in front of all of them, that was his business, not theirs.

He had finished his silent farewell.

Now it was Naruto's turn.

With the assistance of a Shadow Clone, Naruto slowly carried the bodies of his father and godfather towards the large funeral fire as his tears flowed freely down his face. Unlike Sasuke, he didn't care that he was wearing his heart on his sleeve as he and his clone sadly made their way towards the massive flames. His father and his godfather, two of the men he respected the most in this world, were gone. The thought couldn't process in his head as he brought the bodies forward. How could this have happened? Jiraiya… he still had had so many books he still needed to write. Naruto was supposed to have arrived at this village all but ready to drag his sensei away from the nearest bathhouse so as to force the lecherous old man to teach him a powerful new jutsu… And Minato… His father… He was supposed to have been waiting for him here at this village with open arms with a plan for how they were all going to beat back those Sound Ninja bastards, and then, once the war was over, they were supposed to return to the Imperial City where the old man Third Hokage would finally pass on the red Hokage hat to his father and finally name him as the Fourth Hokage… Why did this have to happen?! They still had so many things they had to do!

When he at last reached the flames, Naruto and his clone set both the bodies down in front of the flames, but not close enough to touch them. Then the original Naruto began working on carefully taking off both of the forehead protectors from both bodies while the clone rummaged around in the inner pockets of Jiraiya's green haori until he pulled out a copy of the first book in his erotic book series even though the cover and most of its pages were stained with blood, and then focused on prying free the tri-pronged kunai that Minato had been clutching in his fist before he died.

Everyone stared, wondering what the Captain was doing, but no one dared to call out and ask or to even whisper curiously amongst themselves. They just stared on as Naruto and his replication worked on doing this silently.

When this was all finished, Naruto and his clone set all the objects aside momentarily, and then first worked on setting Jiraiya's body carefully into the blaze. They watched for a moment as the flames licked at the old toad mountain sage's flesh, but then they both shook away their tears before moving to pick up Minato's body. Naruto and his clone both hesitated for a few seconds as they stared down at the body of the man that had been their father as both their hearts ached with unspeakable grief, and more tears streamed down both sets of identical cheeks as they laid the great ninja warrior down as gently as possible into the flames beside his burning master.

The clone then disappeared with a small puff of smoke, but Naruto wasn't even fazed by the disappearance. He simply got down on his hands and knees, and collected the objects that he had taken from Minato and Jiraiya, and began to arrange them neatly on the ground. He set the copy of the first book in Icha Icha Paradise down on the snowy ground a little ways off from the fire so that no sparks would accidentally land on it and cause it to burn away. Then on top of the book, he gently set down Jiraiya's special forehead protector with the kanji symbol for the word 'oil' etched across it. After that, he then carefully tied the blue cloth to his father's forehead protector to the handle of the three bladed kunai that his father had been holding when he died, and then set his father's memento down beside Jiraiya's book and forehead protector before bowing his head mournfully at them. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do at that moment to specifically honor his father and godfather for their courageous deaths in battle.

The other men watched from a distance, none of them knowing what to say or do in order to comfort him.

Kakashi might have been his teacher when he was younger and had been a student of Minato himself, but he knew that this was a family moment right now and wisely stayed away. He could talk to Naruto later and try to offer some support then.

Sasuke was grieving his own brother right now and even though he felt bad for the two losses that Naruto had just suffered, he was too wrapped up in his own grief to even begin to think about how to help his childhood friend, and just stayed where he was off on the sidelines as he looked on.

Gaara had never been very good with emotional support. Despite having never known his mother since ,she had died giving birth to him, and his Uncle Yashamaru dying when he was very, very young, he didn't have enough experience with this sort of grief to have the slightest idea on how to be moral support in a situation like this. If anything, it would be much better for him to simply stay out of the way.

Shikamaru might have been born with an I.Q. of over two hundred, but not even he knew what to do right then to make things right for his friend. His best idea was to just give the Namikaze heir a few minutes to himself to grieve in peace for his father and godfather.

As for the rest of the men, they respected Naruto and thought he was a good guy, but none of them knew him well enough to feel as though they had the right to go and try to offer their condolences to him, or at least, not at that exact moment. They just stayed where they were and looked out at him sadly.

All except one ninja, that is.

Everyone stared as 'Hiro' hesitantly took a single step forward, and then seemed to gain confidence in himself before taking another step, and then another, and then began walking right up to where Naruto was kneeling in the snow and silently mourning his father and old sensei.

Naruto heard the hesitant footsteps approaching him, and wiped his eyes dry with the back of his hand before glancing sadly over his shoulder to see who had come forward. Hinata's face was sympathetic and calm as she studied the face of the heartbroken young man she had come to admire so deeply. She wanted to help him somehow and offer comfort, but she really hadn't thought through what she wanted to say before stepping forward like this. She couldn't just tell him she understood what this felt like, because even though she had lost her paternal uncle to the previous war back when she was a child, that had been an entirely different situation. When her Uncle Hizashi's body had been shipped back home so he could buried with the rest of the dearly departed members of the Hyuuga clan in the clan's burial grounds, he had been dead for awhile, and the army had been kind enough to clean his body before sending him to their compound, so all of the blood and dirt that had been on him when he died had been scrubbed free when they all saw him. Naruto however had been forced to see his father and godfather the way they had looked when they died, with their injuries still caked with dried blood and with weapons still protruding from their bodies. It was a horrible way to discover someone you loved was now gone from this world…

So instead, she said something else. Two very simple words, but they expressed everything that she, as well as every other man there wanted so desperately to say.

"I'm sorry…"

Everyone else stared in amazement. None of them had had the courage to try and reach out to Naruto like that, but 'Hiro' did. They all had to respect the Hyuuga representative for his bravery and kindness in consoling Naruto at his worst possible moment.

Naruto didn't say anything in reply. He just wordlessly nodded at the simple condolence Hinata had given him, but deep down, he really did appreciate the kind gesture. He stood up from his spot in the snow, and patted Hinata's shoulder kindly to express how he felt before sadly moving away from the large bonfire. As much as he wanted to stay there sitting by the flames forever as he mourned the loss of his father and godfather, time was ticking past. Every moment they all spent here meant another moment that Orochimaru and his band of Sound Ninjas were marching onward towards the Imperial City to kill each of the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent along with their families. It was high time they got going.

He ignored the saddened, pitying expressions from everyone else in the platoon as he approached his horse, but as he paused to mount it, he prepared himself to seem strong once again for everyone who would now be looking towards him for guidance. With his father dead, he was now the highest leader in all of the Allied Shinobi Forces aside from Kakashi, but right now, even he would be expecting Naruto to take charge. Everything was resting solely on his shoulders from now on.

The thought reeled in his head for a moment as he shoved away the last feelings of grief, and then he swiftly mounted his horse before focusing his attention back on all the ninjas who were looking up to him expectantly.

"The Sound Ninjas are moving quickly. We'll make better time to the Imperial City through that mountain pass over there," he declared, waving his hand vaguely in the direction of the last open mountain pass in the nearby vicinity so everyone could see what he was referring to. "If we all hurry, we might make it there before they do. Remember this, we're the only hope for the Four Kage's and the Kage Regent now. Move out!"

He didn't wait to see everyone nod or say anything back. He simply urged his shinobi stallion to move with a swift kick of his heels, and then had the horse start trotting in the direction of the mountain pass so as to lead the way.

Everyone else followed immediately, but Hinata lingered by the edge of the great fire for a few moments longer as she pulled the child's doll out of the pocket of her flak jacket and stared at it sadly while running her fingers through its finely sewn hair. Although its face had a smiled stitched neatly across it, it seemed to look so forlorn and lonely being away from its loving owner.

The young heiress wiped away a few more tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes with a brush of her finger, and then knelt down on the ground where Naruto had been kneeling a few moments ago and set the little toy down in between the two forehead protectors and mementos. That little girl who had died here might not have been a brave warrior like General Minato or Commander Jiraiya, but she deserved to be honored just as much as they did.

She nodded respectfully to the objects on the ground and to the bodies burning in the fire when she was done, and then got back to her feet before rushing to retrieve Rin and the pull cart, swiftly following after everyone who had already left.

As she hurried out of the village after the rest of the troops, snow began to lightly fall down from the sky, covering the tragic village in a fresh blanket of pure white as the damaged and rusted village bell continued to ring out sorrowful tolls in the gentle breeze…

* * *

For three days, the men in the platoon marched on through the snow as they made their way through the mountain pass. Unlike how they'd been when first arriving in the Land of Iron, acting all loud and boisterous with one another as they made crude jokes about women and sex, the men in the ranks didn't speak much. After seeing what they had at that decimated village, they had all come to the realization that this war wasn't just a game anymore.

This wasn't just a casual ninja mission they had been assigned to get rid of a group of petty thieves that had been plundering civilians for awhile now.

This was war.

It was high time that they accepted the fact that they were the only ones standing in Orochimaru's way from conquering all of Japan.

It was time to grow up.

Naruto and Sasuke hadn't said much of anything over the course of the journey other than when they needed to shout out orders alongside Gaara to direct the men. They mostly traveled silently as they led the procession down the mountain and resisted the urge to continue mourning for their newly deceased family members. There would be a proper time to mourn Minato, Jiraiya, and Itachi later, after all of this was over. Right now though, they had to focus on the task at hand, and that was beating Orochimaru at his own game and winning this war.

Hinata watched Naruto worriedly from the back of the ranks as she helped to guide Rin and the pull cart through the thick snow. She wished so badly that she could reveal her true identity to Naruto, because even though he was putting up a pretense that he was okay, she could tell for a fact that he definitely was not, and no one else here knew what to say or do to help him through his depression. Men might think that they know everything that there is to know in this world, but the one thing that they would always struggle to understand was how to be compassionate. Naruto didn't need people telling him right now that he was doing a good job as Captain by shoving aside his personal feelings and concentrating all his time and efforts into winning this war. What he needed more than anything was a shoulder to cry on, someone to tell him that it was all right to let his grief out again and that it was okay to forget about everything else for a few minutes while he mourned his father and godfather. If she was a woman right now, she would not hesitate to be the one to tell him that, but she knew that was simply a silly thought and that there was no way she could comfort him the way she wanted to.

She had to keep up this masquerade for a little while longer. After this war was over and she restored the honor for both her father and all of the Hyuuga clan, perhaps she could 'meet' Naruto again as her feminine self and could reveal and explain everything that she had done in this war and why. But that time was not now. Right now, she too had to focus on not only helping to win this war, but on surviving it, too.

As she trudged her way through the snowy terrain, Rin whinnied a bit as he struggled to keep moving. In addition to having to trudge onward with little to no rest across the snowcapped landscape, Rin wasn't accustomed to lugging heavy carts like this all the time like most other shinobi horses would be. Before the stallion had been dragged into the army by his young mistress, he had always been used for simple pleasure riding, not long distance traveling or to cart heavy equipment around. This was hard work for him, and it was even harder since the mountain pass was very rocky in places. They were almost completely through it and would probably reach the Imperial City sometime tomorrow if there were no more delays, but still… the horse had first been forced to travel nonstop up the steep slope for the first day and a half, and was now having a difficult time managing the climb down on the opposite side. But he was a stallion at heart, and he continued on just like his beloved mistress despite his hardships.

Hinata could tell though that her wonderful friend was highly winded and stressed from the long journey, and gently patted his neck to try and comfort him. "It's okay, R-Rin, we're nearly… we're nearly there. J-Just a little bit longer… I'm sure we'll g-get a break soon, okay, boy…?" she whispered soothingly.

Rin nickered affectionately and bopped his head up and down as though he understood what she had said and was nodding in approval. Hinata couldn't help but giggle lightly at the sight as she kept stroking his mane.

The quiet little moment was abruptly interrupted, however, when one of the kunais with an explosive tag attached to it suddenly shot out from somewhere in the back of the wagon, and launched up into the sky before exploding completely in midair.

The entire platoon gasped in shock and came to a full stop as they stared up at the sky where the last remaining traces of smoke left behind from the minor explosion were gently blowing away in the breeze. Then everyone started turning around to look back at Hinata, but Hinata was not looking at any of them. She had turned around herself to glare into the hole left behind in the pull cart, where the sheepish faces of Kurama and Usagi were staring back at her in complete horror.

"W-What… What did you two do?!" she whispered angrily.

Kurama quickly overcame his momentary fear, and hurriedly pointed one of his many long tails sharply at the little white bunny sitting beside him.

"That… That was the rabbit's fault!" he tried to lie.

Usagi bleated indignantly for being unfairly blamed when she truthfully had not done anything wrong. Kurama had been the one skulking around the explosive tags, not her!

Hinata glared at them, and opened her mouth to begin scolding them both, but the sound of a loud neigh that she knew for a fact had not belonged to Rin suddenly resounded nearby, and she turned. Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara were all riding up to her. For once, all three of them had matching angry scowls on their faces at the same time. Not that she could really blame them in this instance. Since no one but her knew about the two spirit tagalongs riding in the pull cart, everyone here rightfully assumed that she had done something wrong with one of the explosive tags and had been the one to accidentally set off that minor explosion.

The three halted their horses right in front of her and stared down in clear disapproval.

"What happened?!" Sasuke demanded.

Hinata glanced nervously back over her shoulder at the hole left behind in the pull cart to check and see if her fox guardian and little rabbit spirit companion were safely hidden from view. She really didn't know how she was supposed to explain this to the three of them.

"Um—"

"Hiro, you have just given away our position!" Gaara growled. "Now we're—"

He was cut off when the sand in his gourd suddenly exploded out from it to instinctively shield the four of them from a great barrage of flying kunai that had been thrown at them from the cover of one of the nearby snow drifts.

As the men around them shouted out in alarm, Naruto's horse went crazy from the sudden appearance of the sand, and it reared backward fearfully and threw him off before bolting away in fright. No one really cared about chasing after the animal though, as everyone was more distracted by the great number of Sound shinobi popping out from their hiding places in the snow drifts and running straight towards them.

Naruto quickly recovered from his fall off his horse, and hastily got to his feet. "Get ready to fight!" he shouted.

The men all cheered out an affirmative, and then began rushing forward to engage the enemy in either taijutsu brawls or battles involving ninjutsus or genjutsus. All except Hinata, that is. Just like Naruto's horse, Rin was rearing up fearfully in panic from the suddenness of the attack, and she couldn't get him to move to cover. She had no choice but to stay where she was and let the Sound ninjas come to her. For one, she loved Rin with all her heart, and couldn't bear to leave him to be mercilessly slaughtered by these disgusting, violent men, but more importantly, if she abandoned Rin, she would not only be abandoning Kurama and Usagi, too, she would also be abandoning all of the supplies that had been brought along. If they lost those supplies, they didn't stand a chance in hell of making it all the way down this mountain. Not alive, anyway.

Three Sound shinobi noticed her standing off by herself beside the cart, and quickly charged straight toward her, but Hinata was not the slightest bit afraid. She sunk down into the traditional stance of the Gentle Fist, activated her Byakugan and felt the veins around her eyes bulge out from using her bloodline limit, and then waited for the three of them to get into range before trying out one of her new original moves.

"Protective Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms!"

Her arms whirled around her body at an unseen speed as the palms of her hands shot out the thin chakra blades that created an impenetrable barrier from all directions at once. One of the Sound ninjas had the sense to halt in his steps when he saw the strange barrier erupt around her, but the second one had been too close to stop in time, and the third decided to test his luck in killing her despite it appearing. As the first ninja watched on, the second shinobi slammed right into the barrier accidentally, and was cut up badly from the razor sharp blades erupting from her hands before falling to the ground. He started choking on his own blood that had gathered in his mouth when one of Hinata's chakra blades had severed one of the major arteries in his throat, while the third ninja forced his own chakra into his hands and tried to shatter the barrier with a powerful, chakra-fueled punch. Hinata's jutsu was much more powerful, though, and he yelled in pain as his entire arm was sliced multiple times.

Knowing she had only a few seconds window before the ninja recovered or his one able-bodied comrade tried to assist him, Hinata quickly canceled her jutsu, and performed a quick array of palm strikes at some of the major chakra points in his body before he could do anything to defend himself or retaliate in any way. He fell to the ground with a painful groan.

Two down, one to go.

The last Sound ninja growled angrily when he saw his two comrades fall, and he charged forward with the sole intent of avenging his friends.

Hinata sensed the rage in his eyes and knew right away that this man would be much harder for her to beat than the other two had been. Her hands quickly flew through a series of hurried hand seals.

"Water Style: Gunshot!" she shouted.

She spat out multiple rapid-fire large bullets made entirely of water from her mouth straight at the invading enemy. The Sound nin only smirked as they hit him, and then his body crumbled away into multiple rocks. How he had managed to make an Earth Clone without her realizing it, Hinata didn't know, but she didn't have time to stop and dwell about it, because she suddenly sensed something incoming directly behind her, and ducked down in time to avoid a numerous amount of shuriken thrown straight at her head.

She pulled a kunai out from the weapons pouch attached to her leg, and ran forward to engage the enemy in a series of parrying blows with their minor weapons. The Sound nin continued to growl frustratingly at her when he realized that none of his attacks were landing on the Hyuuga in front of him, and Hinata used his lack of focus to her advantage. With one last parrying blow of metal against metal, she back-flipped to get out of the way momentarily so as to have some more room between the two of them. Then she swiftly began charging chakra into her hands until they resembled two great blue lion shrouds of energy so as to try out her other new, original technique.

"Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists!"

She swung her chakra enhanced fists at the enemy ninja, and couldn't help but smirk a bit when she felt her right fist connect with his jaw. The ninja roared in pain, but he kept standing and made sure to dodge the next punch she threw at his shoulder. He wisely kept his distance and threw a kunai at her to get her to back away as he prepared a jutsu of his own.

"Earth Style: Stone Column Spears!"

The ground began to shake beneath Hinata's feet. She didn't know what this jutsu was or what was happening, but every fiber in her body was screaming at her to run, and that if she stayed where she was, she was surely going to die. She dispelled the blue energy that had gathered in her hands, charged chakra down into the bottoms of her feet, and nimbly leapt out of the way in the nick of time to avoid being skewered by a series of large rock pillars that erupted straight up out of the snow and tried to impale her. She landed gracefully on the ground a short distance away, but when she tried to rush back forward to attack the Sound ninja again, more sharp columns of rocks appeared beneath her feet, and she had to jump out of the way again to avoid being hit.

Rin whinnied in alarm from seeing the stone pillars appear out of seemingly nowhere, and quickly ran a few paces away to get out range of the attack. Hinata breathed a deep sigh of relief when she saw her stallion move. She didn't know what she would do if she ever lost Rin. Now she just had to figure out how to save herself.

For several moments, she dodged left and right around the rocks, unsure of how to get out of this situation. How was she supposed to attack this ninja if he was preventing her from doing anything besides dodging his attacks?

Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about this for more than fifteen seconds, because Naruto had already finished battling his own enemies, and upon seeing his new buddy 'Hiro' in distress, he ran forward to help.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted.

Several copies of himself appeared with puffs of smoke. While two lingered back with the real Naruto to help him form his signature attack move, the remaining ones leapt into the battle and attacked the Sound nin with several punches to the face that missed when the ninja leapt backwards to avoid them. By doing so, he lost his concentration on Hinata, and the pillars stopped shooting up from beneath her feet. She breathed a great sigh of relief, but then rushed in to help Naruto and his clones take out the ninja that still had yet to die. Later on, after all was said and done, Hinata would look back on this day and wonder why she hadn't felt anything at the time when she had already killed two men in the first opening minutes of the fight and wasn't even thinking twice about doing it a third time as she battled with the man in front of her, but that would be at a much later date. Right now, all her focus was on simply stopping the man who was standing in front of her.

As the clones helping Naruto to form the great ball of blue energy vanished with puffs of smoke, Hinata came to a halt beside him.

"How can I h-help?" she asked.

"Help my clones drive him this way. I'll get him when he's closer with the Rasengan," he told her.

Hinata nodded, and then rushed forward to help the clones drive the Sound ninja closer to the original Captain. Upon noticing her appearance, the clones allowed her to get up close to the enemy ninja, so that she could throw a number of palm strikes at tenketsu points on his shoulder to force him to back up towards the original Naruto. Only two of her hand jabs landed on him since he was able to dodge the rest, but he'd still managed to move backward right in Naruto's direction just as they'd wanted, and Naruto finally made his move. With a loud yell, Naruto charged forward with the wind-powered ball of energy in his hand.

"Wind Style: Rasengan!"

The orb in his hand struck the ninja right in the stomach, and within seconds he was on the ground, permanently down for the count.

With the last ninja dead, Hinata turned and nodded thankfully at Naruto. They weren't the only ones to be finishing up their minor battle. The others were successfully winning their own fights and starting to cheer at their victory.

"T-Thank you," she said appreciatively.

Naruto smiled happily at her in return. "No problem, Hiro. I told you before. We're friends! So friends always have to look out for—"

A flash of flying silver whizzed sharply through the air, and it was the only warning before Naruto slipped and fell down to the ground with a loud yell.

Everyone in the small platoon looked over worriedly when they saw the leading Captain fall, but then they noticed that a kunai was embedded deeply in his shoulder. Hinata was the closest one to him, and initially rushed forward to help him yank it out, but then a loud battle cry was heard from the nearby mountain, and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up.

A great barrage of kunais and shuriken were raining down on them. The minor brawls down here that they had all just engaged in hadn't been meant to be the real battle. It had been a plan to tire them all out so that they wouldn't be able to dodge these.

Naruto quickly got back up and yanked the kunai right out of his shoulder. "Get out of range!" he shouted at once.

The troops shouted in absolute panic, but didn't need to be told twice to run. They all started running at once toward the cover of some large boulders that were right at the edge of a small cliff a short distance away. Hinata wanted to follow them, but she had to get Rin to move first, and she instead bolted over to the spot where Rin had run off to when he got spooked by all the sharp rock columns. Just like before, he was rearing backwards in panic from all the knives flying past his body, and looked to be on the verge of running off madly just like Naruto's horse had done before. Hinata seized hold of his reins and tried to coax him to calm down.

"R-Rin! Rin, please! Calm d-down! Come on, this w-way!" she urged, doing her best to drag her terrified horse after all of her comrades.

Just when it seemed as though she had managed to calm down the spooked animal enough to get him moving, the Sound Ninjas on the mountain started to up their ante, and instead of just throwing regular kunais and shuriken at all of them, they also started shouting out the names of long distance fire jutsus. Now, everyone had to dodge not only the weapons being thrown at them, but also the great number of fireballs being aimed at their heads!

Kurama and Usagi both took a daring peek outside the curtain entrance of the pull cart to see how the battle was faring, but upon seeing a particularly large fireball being aimed directly at where they were standing, they both instantly jumped backwards into the cover of the wagon to avoid being burned to a crisp. The two spirits watched helplessly from on top of Hinata's knapsack as their little safe sanctuary caught on fire.

Usagi bleated fearfully as she hopped on top of Kurama's head in absolute terror, and for once, even Kurama seemed scared.

"Yo! Woman! Help!" he shouted out to Hinata, hoping like hell that she could hear him in all the confusion.

Thankfully, Hinata did hear Kurama's fearful shout, and whirled around. She gasped loudly as the pull cart went up in flames, but despite knowing that the wagon was most likely not savable and that most of the supplies in it would be lost, her only concern right then was that Kurama and Usagi were trapped inside and Rin was still firmly attached to the flaming wagon.

As she panicked for a second on what to do, Rin noticed the fire behind him and reared up again in complete terror as he whinnied loudly. This time, even though Hinata did her best to calm him down again, Rin did not listen to anything she said. He was connected to a wagon that was on fire! He wanted to get as far away from the flames as possible, and nothing Hinata could say could calm him. Not until he got away from this unspeakable danger.

Naruto had been running like the rest of the men towards the cover of the rock formation, but upon hearing 'Hiro's' stallion fearfully neighing, he looked back over his shoulder. His breath caught when he saw the wagon on fire. They were almost out of the mountains, so they could all go a day without the additional food that had been stored away in there, but the explosive tags? They needed those!

"Save the explosive tags!" he shouted out for everyone to hear.

Everyone looked back upon hearing his shout, and then saw 'Hiro' struggling to calm the wild horse down from his panic over the fire steadily creeping along the wagon. Those that were close enough to be of any help ran back into the danger zone to retrieve the highly flammable explosive tags from the flames. They wouldn't be able to save all of them, they knew, but as long as they at least got most of them out, they all stood a chance at beating back the Sound Ninjas in this ambush. Among those that came to help were Hinata's newfound friends. Lee, Kankuro, and Choji all assisted in pillaging through the fire to get most of the explosive tags out, but Kiba and Shino, both animal experts themselves, ran right up to where Hinata was standing and helped her to pull Rin back down from rearing up. Akamaru even barked loudly in animal language to try and offer moral support for the frightened horse, trying to let him know that everything would be okay so long as he stopped panicking. In all the chaos, no one except Hinata noticed that her personal knapsack was being shoved by some sort of inside source out of the hole left behind by the explosive tag and kunai that had unexpectedly shot out earlier. A small fox guardian with bright orange fur and nine distinct tails, and with a tiny white rabbit spirit nestled on its head, was climbing out quickly after the knapsack.

Hinata let out a deep breath of relief upon seeing Kurama and Usagi escape the wagon. Her two spirit friends were safe, and her friends had managed to salvage the majority of the explosive tags out from the cart and were once again running for the cover that the rocky landscape provided, but if she didn't get Rin out of here right now, he was for sure going to die! So long as Hinata lived and breathed, nothing would happen to her horse!

In a split second decision, she seized Kurama and Usagi off the ground and stuffed them both inside her knapsack despite their animal protests before tossing the pack on over her shoulders. Then she pulled another kunai out of her weapons pouch, and slashed down hard at the leather harness connecting Rin to the burning pull cart.

Rin whinnied in delight from finally being freed, but Hinata did not give him any time to celebrate. They had to get away from the pull cart before it exploded! She mounted her stallion bareback, and kicked her heels hard into his sides. Rin shot off within a second, and Hinata steered him in the direction of where the rest of the men in the platoon were running. They got out of there in the nick of time, too. Seconds after they were safely away from the burning cart, the entire thing exploded quite abruptly. Fire and wood went flying everywhere, but thankfully, Hinata and Rin were both out of range by then and weren't hurt. Their main priority was on dodging all the kunais, shuriken, and fireball jutsus being aimed at their heads as they charged after everyone else who by now had almost reached the cover of the rocks.

When she safely arrived behind the makeshift shelter, she hopped down from Rin's back, and joined the rest of her friends in seizing several explosive tags and began hurrying to attach them to her personal supply of kunai. Once she was done, she peeked out sparingly from behind one of the massive boulders, and waited for the order to start throwing them at the enemies.

She didn't have to wait long. After only a few moments of waiting to see if everyone was ready to launch their counterattack, Naruto gave the signal. "Fire!" he shouted.

A barrage of kunai flew out of everyone's hands as they threw them all up towards where the Sound army was hiding on the mountain side. The enemy tried to dodge the flying weapons as they got close, but most of them fell off the mountain when the seals attached to the weapons were activated. All in all, there weren't many men up there, so even though they had all been surprised by this sudden ambush, they stood a good chance at winning this battle, because despite being a regiment of only a couple hundred shinobi, they still vastly outnumbered the Sound Ninjas hiding on the mountain. The rest of the enemy army must have been killed in the process of destroying that village a ways back and beating back the main troops in the Allied Shinobi Forces.

As the kunais were launched into the air, Hinata and her friends rushed to collect the last of the explosive tags and attach them all to the ends of their throwing knives. They hadn't been able to salvage much from the wagon before it exploded, but even so, maybe they didn't need all of those supplies. They might just win this battle without any further hassle on their end.

"Fire again!" Naruto ordered as he witnessed the Sound survivors trying to run to avoid another onslaught of kunais tagged with explosive seals.

Again, everyone complied, and the last of the kunais with explosive tags sailed through the air and struck the side of the mountain. There was only one kunai with an explosive tag left now, and it belonged to Kankuro. The air on the opposite end of the snowy battlefield was filled with thick clouds of black smoke, but as a light wind blew through the mountain pass and began to slowly clear away the haze of black and gray, Naruto spotted a small trace of movement on the other side beyond the smoky clouds, and his eyes narrowed.

"Hold the last kunai!" he demanded, holding out a hand in front of Gaara's older brother to make sure he knew he was serious.

Kankuro lowered his already raised arm, still holding the ninja throwing knife, and everyone was silent as they all squinted their eyes when they too saw the small amount of movement on the other side of the smoky clouds.

Hinata's brows furrowed as she looked on through the black and gray curtains of smoke. Who was still alive on the other side? Was it only one weak Sound ninja who was desperately clinging to his last moments left on earth, or was it a handful of Sound shinobi who were planning to make one last final stand even though they knew that their efforts were useless? Just who was it?

From the depths of black and gray crowds emerged an ominous figure with a maniacal grin and a small snake summoning perched around its narrow shoulders. It was the leader of the Sound Ninjas, the infamous Snake Summoner Orochimaru. He wasn't riding a horse, but that didn't even seem to matter to the men staring up at him in fear down below. He was supposedly one of the strongest ninja alive today. He didn't need a horse to seem intimidating. He didn't have a scratch on him anywhere, and he looked more than ready to take a stand here on the mountain. The snake traitor was smirking wickedly as he gazed down in what could almost be considered amusement at the small band of ninjas. They were all that remained of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

And then, one by one, slowly at first, but then faster and faster, more Sound ninjas appeared behind him. Directly behind him were his five main Generals, each one riding a shinobi-trained horse, and they matched their leader's eerie grin as they looked down at the pitiful number of ninjas that were prepared to fight against them. All together, the allied ninjas estimated that there had to be at least a thousand men standing behind Orochimaru, and they were all letting out loud, deafening battle cries as they waited for the snake summoner's signal to charge right ahead at the small band of ninjas down by the edge of the cliff.

Naruto's eyes all but popped out of his head when he saw just how many ninjas were following the famous traitor. The Sound army was enormous! No wonder his father and his godfather had failed in their endeavor to keep the enemies from crossing into the Land of Iron and had perished in that battle at the little mountainside village. The army was at least twice the size of the number of men his father had brought along with him to the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Iron, and it was definitely three times the size of the number of men he had following him!

He shook aside his fears as he fixed a determined look on his face while pulling a kunai out from the weapons pouch on his leg, and then looked over his left shoulder at his friends and comrades. This may not be a battle that they could win, but he would be damned if he let the men here think that it was okay to just give up without at least trying first!

"Prepare to fight! If we all die, we all die with honor!" he announced proudly.

Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru all trusted his judgment and moved to stand beside him, but everyone else just exchanged sorrowful, terrified looks as they slowly took kunai knives and shuriken stars out from their personal weapon pouches or brought their hands together so as to be ready to start performing hand signs for the types of offensive ninjutsus that they knew. They were all thinking one thing: Naruto should not have said _'if_ we all die.' He should have said the sad truth of _'when_ we all die…'

Hinata's entire body was shaking with terror as she too took out a kunai knife. This was surely the end. This battle would be where she would fall. She would never see Hanabi, Neji and Tenten, or her loving parents again. Her only relief was that she had saved her father from this untimely demise. He would go on to live a long life even though she would not be in it. He could groom Hanabi into a suitable replacement heiress for the rest of the clan. And besides, that's what everyone had wanted anyway, for her to simply disappear so that Hanabi, the preferred daughter, could take her all but preordained place as the new Hyuuga heiress. Not that Hinata blamed Hanabi in any way. She loved her little sister more than anything! She could only hope that Hanabi would grow up out of her childish and silly ways and bloom into a wonderful, kind young lady that could bring honor for their clan. Honor that she had failed to restore.

Orochimaru let out a bellowing yell as he unsheathed his infamous sword Kusanagi from its sheath on his waist, and then pumped chakra down into his feet as he charged forward down the snowy slope to lead the attack. His five generals quickly followed after him on their horses, and then the rest of the Sound Ninjas in the army barreled down the mountain after them. There didn't seem to be an end to the massive tidal wave of men rushing down the mountain. They all just kept on coming.

Choji suddenly coughed loudly to get his friends' attention, and Hinata and her friends looked over at him. He was smiling sadly at them all. "I… I just wanted to say that it was nice knowing all of you…" he said quietly.

Kiba, Kankuro, Lee, and Shino all nodded grimly in reply.

Hinata looked away sadly to gaze over at Naruto, but she was surprised when she saw a look of pure hatred and anger spreading quickly across his face as he stared at the approaching body of Orochimaru. That was not the look of a man who was in his right mind for fighting for his country. That was a man who had only one agenda on his mind: revenge.

"Kankuro," Naruto growled, his eyes still fixed firmly on the approaching snake traitor. "Throw the last kunai with the explosive tag at Orochimaru!"

Naruto knew that they didn't stand a chance in hell at defeating every ninja in the Sound army with their small division, but if he was going to die here today, he would die taking down the bastard Sound leader that had slaughtered his father, godfather, and his best friend's older brother.

This would not only be the day that he died.

This was the day that the evil Orochimaru died, too!

As Kankuro prepared to throw the last kunai, Hinata glanced over at the angry blonde Captain. She truly felt bad for Naruto. He was hurting so much right now, glaring hatefully at the man who had been behind the attack that had led to the deaths of his father and godfather. She thought back to how kind and easygoing he had been back at the training camps, and couldn't believe that he had changed like this after only a few short months.

She sighed as she glanced down at the small little blade in her hand, knowing full well that it wouldn't do much to protect her against over a thousand ninjas thirsting for her blood, but then she saw something reflecting off the shiny metal on the blade. The tip of a nearby mountain that the Sound shinobi were all coming from.

A curious look spread across her face as she stared down at it for a moment, and then looked up to gaze at the snowy peak of the mountain with her own eyes. A wild, but still brilliant idea was slowly hatching in her mind. It was completely insane what she was thinking, but if it worked, Orochimaru wouldn't be the only member of the Sound Ninjas to die. Every last enemy would be dead, too. There was no time to second guess herself on whether or not it would really work. There was only one explosive tag left, and it was about to be wasted for a stupid reason. She had to act now!

Before anyone could realize what she was doing or could try and stop her, Hinata dropped her kunai, elbowed Kankuro in the ribs hard enough to knock him down into the snow, and seized the explosive-tagged kunai from his hands before channeling a great deal of chakra down into her feet to increase her speed, and ran like the devil out from their safe haven that the large rocks provided them with.

There were many shouts and cries of alarm from everyone as the men saw 'Hiro' run out, and assumed that he was making the most reckless move in his life just to ensure that the kunai struck Orochimaru, but there was one man whose shout was the loudest.

"Hiro! Come back here!" Naruto yelled loudly, but Hinata ignored his order and kept on running. _"Hiro!"_

Rin saw the dangerous move his mistress was performing, and whinnied loudly in panic. He tried to dash after her, but Kakashi quickly lunged forward and seized hold of his reins, preventing the stallion from going anywhere. It was bad enough that 'Hiro' had decided to act like an idiot and go and try to get himself killed. The last thing any of them needed was for his horse to get involved in a suicidal task.

As Hinata ran as fast as she could through the snow to get as close as possible to the mountain, she heard Usagi bleat frightfully from the knapsack she was still carrying on her back, and Kurama was yelling furiously now that they were out of earshot from the rest of the troops.

"What the hell are you doing, you stupid woman?!" he growled as he poked his out from the confines of the knapsack and glared at her. "Turn around! Now!"

"No!" Hinata snapped back, and it actually startled Kurama how determined and focused she sounded. "If… If I turn b-back now… We will all die! I… I h-have a plan!"

Hinata didn't bother to explain herself any further to her fox guardian. She was focusing on the fact that Orochimaru was looming closer and closer to her. But still, she did not stop running. She had to get as close to the mountain as she dared before she could put her plan into action.

By now, Naruto had done something crazy himself. He had ignored the cries of protest from his friends and had run out from the cover of the rocks in a desperate attempt to run after the seemingly insane Hyuuga boy. "Stop!" he yelled pleadingly.

Hinata glanced briefly over her shoulder at her crush for a moment, and she did indeed stop. But it was not because Naruto had told her to do so. It was because the evil snake summoner was now only fifty yards away from her, and if she wanted to put her plan into action, she would have to do so now, before he rammed her through with his gleaming blade.

On her shoulder, Kurama was having similar thoughts.

"Girl, if you really do have a plan, I suggest you do it now! Quickly!" he snapped.

Hinata made no sign at all to show that she had heard his angry words, but nonetheless did as he said. She began to channel as much chakra as she could into the hand holding the kunai to increase the power and speed behind the throw she was about to make.

* * *

Back behind the cover of the rock formation, everyone was looking on in shock as they watched their Hyuuga comrade come to a complete stop in the middle of the snow for some bizarre reason, and Naruto running as fast as he could to reach 'Hiro' before he was sliced in half by the evil Orochimaru.

No one really knew what to think. They understood why Naruto had run out there. He wanted to try and protect their comrade, but what exactly was Hiro thinking? Did he really think he stood a chance in hell in a one-on-one fight against the evil leader of the Sound army?

Everyone's thoughts were interrupted though when Sasuke suddenly leapt over the boulder he had been crouching down behind, and took off running after Naruto and the idiot Hyuuga ninja. He was quickly followed by Shikamaru, but when Gaara tried to follow them, Kankuro's hand suddenly shot out and clamped down firmly on his shoulder, preventing the redheaded boy from going anywhere.

"Just what the fuck do you think you're doing, Gaara?!" Kankuro demanded, sounding more like the older brother he actually was to Gaara for once rather than the immature little brother.

But Gaara was not at all intimidated by the look on Kankuro's face, and quickly shoved his hand aside. "We're saving our friends," he said simply, and then he too took off as fast as he could after his friends to hopefully save Naruto and 'Hiro' from reaching an unfortunate end.

Kankuro stood there for half a second as he watched his little brother run out into danger, but then a determined look spread across his face. There was no way in hell he was going to let his only brother go into danger like this and not be there to watch his back! He shot a look over his shoulder at the rest of his friends.

"Come on! We gotta help!" he yelled.

Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, Lee, and Choji all nodded as determined looks spread across their own faces, and then they all jumped out from behind their own rocks to try and help all their friends, but more importantly, their Hyuuga friend.

* * *

Hinata was ignorant of the fact that more men had run out from behind the cover of the rock formation in order to try and help her. She was too focused on the fact that Orochimaru was nearly three feet away and almost on top of her now, and the chakra she had been channeling into her hand had finally finished charging. It was now or never.

With a determined yell, she took careful aim at her target, and then threw the kunai directly at it.

Orochimaru, not realizing initially that the kunai with the explosive tag attached had not been aimed at him, immediately stopped running and backed up in alarm as he prepared to make hand signs in order to create a defensive barrier between him and the explosion. By the time he realized that the kunai was way off course, Kurama was already screaming loudly in Hinata's ear.

"You missed?! How could you miss, Woman?! He was three feet in front of—"

The fox cut himself off when he realized that not only was Hinata not listening to him, her hands were flying together to perform five rapid fast hand signs of tiger, ox, dog, rabbit, and snake. She sucked in a deep breath of air into her lungs, and then shouted out—

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Hinata released the gust of wind that had gathered in her lungs, but again, instead of aiming the jutsu at Orochimaru, she aimed the blasting winds directly at the flying kunai. Thanks to the extra power behind the throwing knife from the winds supporting it, the kunai sailed even further into the air until it at last hit its intended target: the very tip of the peak of the snowy mountain. She performed one last hand sign, and successfully activated the seal attached to the now faraway ninja knife.

The effect was instantaneous.

A large explosion erupted from the peak of the mountain, and all at once, massive piles of snow and ice broke away from the tip of the enormous glacier, and as they came crashing down the side of the mountain, they banged into snow and ice clumped together on the steep slopes, causing all of that to start falling away, too. Even though it was just the enormous amount of snow and ice that was tumbling down, it was so catastrophic that it almost felt as if the entire mountain was quickly crumbling away, and it was all thanks to the ingenious idea of one misfit Hyuuga heiress.

Hinata smirked as she watched her plan unfold, and the snow go tumbling down upon the frightened heads of all of the Sound Ninjas.

Orochimaru noticed the smirk gracing the lips of the Hyuuga in front of him, and turned to look over his shoulder to see just what had made him so happy all of the sudden. His jaw all but dropped in complete horror as he saw most of the ninjas in his massive ninja army get devoured and swept away before his eyes by the enormous tidal wave of snow and ice. Most of those snow piles were bigger than houses! And the avalanche showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. He never thought he would be staring death in the face, but this was undoubtedly the end for him…

He hissed with rage as he turned back around to glare hatefully at the brave young 'man.' How dare this ninja do this! He had destroyed his dream! He was to be the one to kill not only his old sensei and his sensei's family, but the other Kages and the Mizukage Regent, too! He was to be the one who would take all of Japan in his fist and crush it all in one fell swoop! But now, because of the acts of one seemingly insignificant Hyuuga ninja, that endeavor was never to be… He may not be able to win this war now, but he'd be damned if he didn't deliver this Leaf shinobi to hell with him during his final moments!

Hinata stepped backwards a few paces rather fearfully when she caught sight of the evil glint in his yellow eyes. Although her plan had succeeded, the one thing she hadn't thought of was how Orochimaru would react afterwards when he realized what she had done. This was bad. Really bad. She had to get out of here now!

She tried to turn so as to run away, but Orochimaru had been a ninja far longer than she had, and was quicker. He charged a great deal of his chakra into the blade of his sword to make sure his attack was twice as powerful so that the Hyuuga in front of him would be sure to suffer, and then roared in anger as he swung the blade down through the air at the defenseless ninja.

Hinata groaned as she felt the blade slice through the fabric of her flak jacket and a great deal of pain shot through her abdomen. She slipped and fell to the ground, but the looming threat of the rapidly churning snow about to bury her alive in the avalanche she had created shoved the pain to the back of her mind. She was positive that her flak jacket and chainmail armor took the brunt of the damage. She'd worry about the pain later. Right now, if she wanted to live to see tomorrow, she had to run!

She stumbled up again, charged more chakra down into her feet, and sprinted away in the opposite direction of the approaching snow. As she ran, she came across Naruto, who had stopped running when he saw the avalanche she had caused and just stared up in absolute shock at the top of the mountain where the snow was still falling from.

"Gods and spirits—"

"Run!" Hinata screamed at him. She seized hold of his hand as she ran past him and all but dragged her crush behind her in a hopeful attempt to try and outrun the impending danger.

Feeling her start to drag him, Naruto snapped out of his state of shock and charged his own chakra down into his feet before running, too. He shot a fearful look behind him again at the enormous wall of snow and ice catching up to them, and then turned his head to glare at her.

"Hiro Hyuuga! You better pray we survive this, because if we don't, I swear I'll kill you again in the afterlife!"

* * *

Everyone who had bravely left the cover of the rocks in a vain effort to try and help 'Hiro' and Naruto froze in mid-step when they saw the great avalanche swiftly descend upon the ninjas in the Sound army. They all stared, stunned, as they watched the sea of white swallow up man after man in the man-made disaster. Even Orochimaru was actually panicking as he too tried to outrun the great barreling tons of snow heading right at him.

It was Shikamaru who realized that they too were all in the direct path of death, and he screamed to get the attention of all his friends.

" _Run!"_

No one needed to be told twice. The Konoha ninjas and the two Suna brothers all turned on their heels and bolted as fast as they could back to the safety of the rocks.

As the men safely hidden behind the rocks urged them all to hurry, Kakashi struggled to keep his grip on Rin's reins. Rin might be a horse, but he was certainly not stupid. He knew his mistress was in grave danger. With a loud whinny, he kicked his back legs directly into Kakashi's sternum. Hard. Kakashi groaned his pain as he let go of the reins and fell to the ground. Rin quickly galloped past him and away from the safety that the rock formation provided him with and dashed toward his girl. It was his duty to save her. The stallion neighed loudly at Shino when he came close to blocking Rin as he ran past the other ninjas. These pesky other humans would not stop him. He had to save Hinata!

Shino realized that he had no greater chance in hell of stopping the crazy stallion than he did in stopping the entire avalanche, and literally had to leap out of the horse's way as he hurtled past him. He didn't stop running, but he did shoot a quick look over his shoulder to watch the two ninjas who were still in danger from the deadly mass of rolling snow and ice.

"Faster!" he whispered pleadingly, hoping like hell that 'Hiro's' horse would reach them both in time.

* * *

Orochimaru was running faster than he even believed himself to be capable of. He did not wish to die. He still had to kill his old sensei! Despite his wishes to stay alive, the great billowing tons of snow descended down on the Land of Fire ninja turned traitor, and swallowed him whole. He yelled out as he was swept along with the current, unable to do a single thing to try and save himself.

With him officially gone, there were now only two ninjas left that were running for their lives from the unstoppable force of the avalanche.

The Namikaze heir and the Hyuuga heiress.

They did not stop running for anything. They weren't too far away from the cover of the rock formation where the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces were safely hidden. If they could reach it in time, they would for sure be safe. Just a little further! They were almost there!

Hinata looked up when she saw Rin galloping straight toward her with the intent of rescuing her, and she made a beeline toward her trusty stallion. She hadn't expected her horse to run out into the middle of the avalanche to help her, but she couldn't say she was complaining about her trusty stallion's reckless decision. It could very well be Rin's desire to protect her, that was the reason why she and Naruto survived this disaster she had knowingly set upon them.

She swung herself up onto Rin's unsaddled white body, and then reached out her hand toward Naruto, who was now running as hard as he could alongside her.

"Grab on!" she shouted to him.

Naruto reached out toward his Hyuuga comrade, and Hinata's hand grasped tightly onto his. She tried to pull him up and onto Rin's back, but at that moment, the raging white sea of doom had finally caught up with them, and they were forcibly ripped apart from one another by the strength of the great billowing waves of ice and snow.

* * *

The two ninja Co-Captains, the head Tactician, and all the other ninjas that had tried to run after Naruto and Hinata lunged frantically back behind the cover of the rocks to rejoin the rest of the men who were safe from the avalanche. They huddled together mere seconds before the deadly wave of white crashed all around them and spilled over the edge of the cliff, showing no signs at all of stopping anytime soon. They were all men, but at that moment, no one there was the slightest bit ashamed to show the fear they felt about the current situation as they looked at one another in complete shock at what was happening.

Hiro Hyuuga may have been able to stop the entire Sound army with his risky move, but until the avalanche stopped, they were all in danger, too. Plus, he and Naruto were still out there somewhere, trying to battle the icy tides. They could only pray that they would be all right.

* * *

Out in the middle of the great white maelstrom, a stallion as white as the snow crashing around him determinedly broke free from the depths of the tumbling blocks of ice surrounding him. He resurfaced with a particularly loud whinny before trying his hardest to run against the tide of rushing snow. His rider, a young woman disguised as a man, was clinging onto his reins and mane with all her might, knowing full well that if she lost her grip on her horse, she would be swept away for good and would definitely not survive.

Hinata felt how hard Rin was struggling against the harsh conditions, and desperately encouraged him to not give up.

"F-Fight it, Rin! You can d-do it!" she cried out loudly.

A second small wave of snow toppled over their bodies, and Hinata nearly lost her grip on her horse as she felt Rin struggle to resurface again, but after only a moment's delay, the stallion kicked his way out from the snow piled on top of him and continued his battle against the strong current.

Despite the loud roar of the avalanche, Hinata could hear Usagi bleating and squeaking loudly in complete panic from the knapsack as she squirmed around inside it, and Kurama was yelping in fear at the situation they were currently stuck in.

"Stupid woman! Was _this_ part of your plan, too?! For all of us to die in a goddamned avalanche?!" he yelled, although it was impossible to miss the terror in his voice as his head warily peeked out from the confines of Hinata's bag for a moment to see the sea of white surrounding them in every direction.

But Hinata did not choose to respond to her guardian's harsh, fearful words. Something else had grabbed her attention away from focusing all her might on clinging desperately to Rin. Something that nearly made her heart stop beating in complete terror.

There was a flash of orange drifting out on the surface of the rumbling white waves of snow. It was a body that was currently not moving due to being perhaps hurt or possibly knocked unconscious. The ninja had spiky blonde hair, and he was being swept away by the vast power of the avalanche towards the edge of the cliff.

" _Naruto!"_ Hinata screamed at the top of her lungs. She urged Rin to turn so she could hurry to collect him. He was in trouble! She would never be able to forgive herself if she failed to save him.

Rin knew quite well that the boy who always chose to wear the impractical, orange ninja attire held a special place in his mistress's heart, and quickly complied with Hinata's command to rush after the man drifting away towards the edge of the cliff. He crashed his way through the rapidly churning snow currents and stayed as still as possible while Hinata hurried to get the young man onto his back.

Hinata gripped Rin's reins and mane tightly in one hand, but kept a firm grasp on Naruto's body with her other as she glanced nervously over her shoulder at the fast approaching inevitable drop off the edge of the cliff. Rin was a strong horse, but not even he could last forever against the power of an avalanche…

What the hell were they going to do now?

* * *

Gaara was cleverly manipulating a large cloud of sand to lift the Leaf ninja Kiba high into the air. The canine-like ninja was holding a kunai with the end of a very long rope tied to the handle, and he was scanning the white ocean carefully to find the bodies of the regiment Captain and the Hyuuga clan ninja representative.

"Kiba, do you see them?!" Choji shouted up worriedly at his Inuzuka friend from his place on the ground. He wasn't the only man there that wanted to know. All of their friends, as well as the rest of the men in the platoon, were anxious to know whether or not Naruto and 'Hiro' were okay.

There was a moment's pause as Kiba's eyes squinted carefully, checking every inch of the continuously changing landscape in front of him, but then he jumped in delight on the small sand cloud. "Yes!" he cried out in relief.

He reeled his arm back, took careful aim, and then threw the kunai in the direction of the two shinobi and the horse that were all battling the heavy onslaught of snow crashing down on them.

Kiba grinned at his success as he watched the kunai and the rope sail through the air. "Perfect! Now I'll pull them both to safe—" the end of the rope slipped past his hands at the last second, and flew through the air after the kunai. "—ty…"

" _Kiba!"_ everyone screamed in disbelief and horror.

Kiba fell off the cloud of sand in his panic and begin looking around desperately for some more rope. "Rope! More rope! Where's the rest of the rope?!" he shouted out desperately.

"There is no more rope, idiot! We tied all of it together to make sure that it would reach them!" Sasuke growled, resisting the urge to kill the idiot Inuzuka here and now for screwing up the only chance they had at rescuing his best friend.

Everyone's heads turned to watch rather helplessly as 'Hiro' and Naruto were relentlessly shoved closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. They were going to fall to their deaths, and there was nothing that they could do to stop it…

* * *

Kurama and tiny Usagi both poked their heads out nervously from the flap of Hinata's knapsack to fix the young woman with equally matching enraged looks.

"Goddamn it, Woman! Don't tell me you intended to commit suicide by setting off this whole avalanche!"

Hinata ignored Kurama's words, and looked up fearfully towards the sky. "Hyuuga ancestors, I b-beg of you… Please help us!" she cried out pleadingly.

And like that, almost as though the Hyuuga ancestors had heard her desperate plea, a kunai with a rope trailing from its handle landed in the snow directly on her left. She blinked at it for a second, but then the realization that the rest of her fellow ninjas must have thrown this to her so as to safely pull them in dawned on Hinata, and she lunged forward to grab hold of the kunai.

As she hurried to tie the end of the rope onto what was left of Rin's harness from the pull cart, Kurama turned his head to look over at Usagi's small form beside him in the large pack.

"Huh… I guess maybe you are a lucky rabbit…" he said curiously.

The tiny white bunny started to squeak happily from finally having gotten Kurama's recognition, but then she and Kurama noticed just how close they had gotten to the edge of the cliff, and they both began to scream and panic.

Hinata heard their screams, and glanced over her shoulder to see what they were both screaming about, only to gasp herself when she saw the sheer drop that was awaiting them all. If she didn't throw this kunai back to the others now, they would definitely not survive.

As Rin slowly began to slip off the edge of the cliff, Hinata turned her attention back to her fellow shinobi who were watching on, unable to do anything to help. She carefully aimed, and then threw the kunai back to them.

* * *

Everyone was initially unaware that 'Hiro' had managed to throw the kunai back to them, and they were all speaking in hushed, sad tones about the unfortunate ends of both the Namikaze and Hyuuga heirs.

Kiba in particular looked especially guilty as Lee patted him on the back to try and cheer him up and Akamaru nuzzled his head against his body.

"I… I can't believe I let them slip through my fingers…" the Inuzuka blubbered on, actually holding up his opened, cupped hands to emphasize his words.

Akamaru whined sadly as Lee opened his mouth to try and tell him that it had simply been an accident, but he never got the opportunity to do so, because at that moment, the kunai that Kiba had sent off flying towards Naruto and 'Hiro' suddenly landed in the palm of his hand. He stared at it in disbelief for a second before he was literally yanked right off his feet as the weight of both ninjas and the horse added together caught up with him, and started dragging him towards the edge.

"Oh, shit! Oh, shit!" he yelled out fearfully as he himself was seconds away from falling off the edge of the cliff now, too.

Every man there that was in the small platoon, including the annoying Ebisu, lunged forward to grab hold of either the rope or Kiba himself, and started heaving with all their might all together against the forces of gravity to hoist Rin, Naruto, and 'Hiro' back up again.

Everyone's arms burned and several pairs of feet slipped in the snow when people lost their balance momentarily, but no one dared to give up. They all worked together as they grunted hard and continued to drag the ninjas back up again.

"Pull! Pull!" bellowed Lee rather loudly to everyone as they all felt the rope starting to move in their direction rather than continue moving rapidly down the cliff. "The power of youth is in us all! We can do it! Pull!"

There were several groans of agreement as everyone worked harder than ever to haul their comrades back up onto solid ground again. Thanks to all their hard work, it wasn't long before they could see the forms of their two fellow ninjas and the horse slowly rising back up again.

Hinata was breathing deep breaths of relief as they were all slowly hoisted back up again. They had survived. They had survived a fate that any other normal human being would have for sure died from, but they would live to tell the tale. If this wasn't a God sent miracle, then she didn't know what was.

Kurama and Usagi were squirming around inside her knapsack. They too were pleased to know that they would live to see another day.

"Woman, I never thought I'd actually end up saying this, but you're the man!" the fox said in what could almost be considered a happy tone.

Hinata lightly giggled, but she didn't get the chance to say anything else, because she suddenly felt the body of Naruto shifting about in front of her followed by a low groan as he started to regain consciousness, and she quickly focused all her attention on him.

Naruto stirred lightly for a few more seconds, but then his eyes groggily opened, and he looked around uncertainly as he tried to figure out where he was.

"Ugh… Hiro? What's going on…? What happened?" he groaned.

"It's… It's okay, N-Naruto," she assured him. "We're being rescued. We'll be up on the g-ground again in a few moments."

As soon as they were close enough to the top of the cliff, Shino and Choji stepped forward and pulled Naruto and Hinata off of Rin while the rest of the men kept pulling for a few more moments until the horse could climb up on its own. Hinata shrugged off her knapsack and let it fall to the ground as exhaustion hit her like never before. She ignored the barely heard groans and squeaks from Kurama and Usagi as she dropped down to the ground beside the still recovering form of Naruto, completely wiped out.

Many men tried to rush forward and crowd around them to see if they were both okay, but Shikamaru quickly stepped forward and shoved them all away.

"Get back! Give them some air!" he ordered. No one dared to disobey him. Shikamaru was only the leading Tactician in the army and did not hold as much influence over the troops as Naruto, Sasuke, or Gaara, but there was no mistaking the authority in his voice right then, and everyone did as he said and backed up a few steps.

For a little while, all Naruto and Hinata did was lay there in the snow as they panted and gasped for breath, but as soon as they had both recovered enough to be able to talk, Naruto turned to look directly at 'Hiro.' Hinata couldn't tell what her crush was thinking exactly, so she just bowed her head and bit her lower lip nervously. Was he mad at her for setting off that avalanche? She had taken care of the entire Sound army with her crazy plan, but she had also put herself, him, and every other man in their small platoon in danger, too. She couldn't exactly blame him if he was about to start yelling at her right now…

"Hiro Hyuuga…? You are ten times crazier than I am… And they call me the Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja, so that's saying something!" he exclaimed.

Hinata's face flushed at his words. She tried to look away to hide her shame, but that was when a small chuckle erupted from Naruto's throat, and she quickly looked back over to him. To her surprise, he was actually smiling.

"And for that, I owe you my life," he went on, sounding rather happy and grateful instead of angry. Hinata couldn't help but be amazed as he gently patted her shoulder to further express his gratitude. "From now on, you can always count on me to watch your back! You have my trust!"

Almost immediately, Kankuro started cheering loudly. "Let's hear it for Hiro! The bravest of us all!" he shouted, pumping a fist up high in the air.

The others followed his example, and started cheering and whooping loudly at the bravery their Hyuuga comrade had shown.

"Yosh! There is no one else here whose flames of youth burn brighter!" Lee cheered.

"You're king of the mountain!" Kiba hollered.

"Hiro the hero!" chanted Choji.

Even Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru looked dead impressed. Sasuke and Gaara didn't cheer because doing so would ruin their image of being 'silent and scary,' and Shikamaru considered celebrating to be too 'troublesome,' but they were all nodding in agreement to everyone's words as smiling at the indigo-haired shinobi sitting in front of them. 'Hiro' Hyuuga had saved the life of Naruto, their friend. If Naruto trusted him completely from now on, they did, too. They were just glad that their buddy was okay.

Naruto grinned at everyone's enthusiasm as he got back to his feet. He offered 'Hiro' his hand to help him to stand, but as the Hyuuga tried to get to his feet, his sudden shout of pain instantly silenced the celebrations of the rest of the men.

Hinata screamed in agony as a wave of sharp pain shot through her abdomen, and she clutched her stomach with both hands as she fell back down in the snow. What was going on? This pain hadn't been there a few minutes ago. Why did her stomach feel as though it was on fire?

That was a question that Naruto wanted to know, the answer to as well. Within seconds, he was kneeling back down in the snow beside her, gently touching her shoulder to try and sooth her pain. "Hiro! Hiro, what's wrong?!" he asked his friend urgently.

Tears blurred Hinata's vision as she gazed back up at him in a hazy wave of pain. She tried to open her mouth to explain that something was wrong with her stomach, but all she managed was a low, pain-filled groan as she moved her hand away from her stomach and glanced down at it. A great deal of blood stained her hand and was dripping down from a large slash in her flak jacket. She blinked as she tried to figure out how this had happened and why her chainmail hadn't protected her. Then she remembered Orochimaru channeling his chakra into the blade of his sword before slashing at her abdomen. She had assumed her jacket and chainmail had protected her from the attack, but judging by the amount of blood coating her hand, the chakra-charged sword strike had broken clean through her armor and had slashed deeply into her skin, and now that the adrenaline of survival was wearing off, the pain from the attack was coming back hard. It hurt so much.

Everyone inhaled in horror when they saw the blood dripping down from 'Hiro's' side. There was just so much!

Naruto recovered from his shock faster than everyone else, and quickly turned his head back towards the rest of the men. "He's wounded! We need a medic-nin here stat!" he shouted.

Hinata's vision grew even foggier as she tried to stay awake. Naruto saw her eyes fluttering shut, and quickly shook her shoulders to make sure she stayed awake. Hinata yelped again as the movement caused more pain to shoot throughout her body, but it did succeed in keeping her awake.

"Na… ruto…" she whispered.

"Stay awake, Hiro! Do you hear me?! Don't you dare close your eyes!"

"H-Hurts…"

"I'll bet it does! But don't worry! We've got medic-nins in this platoon! You're going to be okay!"

"Not… Not w-worth it…"

"What the hell are you talking about?! Of course you're worth it!"

"Fail… Failure…" Hinata murmured sleepily… "E-Embarrassment…"

Naruto blinked, but then firmly shook his head as he helped her to lie down in the snow. "You're no failure, and you're the furthest thing from an embarrassment. You're a hero!" he insisted. "You're the ninja that wiped out an entire army with one kunai and one jutsu!"

Everyone nodded at his proclamation. They all knew that 'Hiro' Hyuuga would be regarded as a legend in this war for generations to come.

Hinata smiled weakly back at him. She honestly didn't care if she would be regarded as a hero for all time. At that moment, the only thing that mattered to her was that Naruto was there beside her. Just the thought of it made her heart swell happily. This wasn't just some silly crush she had on him. She knew for a fact now that what she felt for the energetic blonde was true love. He had saved her back when she was a child, and now, she had saved him as an adult. It didn't matter to her if she didn't make it. She was just glad that he had survived.

As her eyes started fluttering shut again, her friends gathered around her worriedly and Naruto desperately shook her again to try and keep her awake.

"Hiro, hold on! Hold on!"

A small smile graced Hinata's lips, and then she allowed the darkness to consume her…


	7. The Truth Revealed

**I should start off by saying that I'm sorry for the bit of the wait for this chapter. It has been finished for a few days now, but because Silken Danser's schedule has cleared up again, I gave her the entirety of the story to critique along with this finished chapter, and I had hoped she would have it done it time to meet my weekly update schedule. Unfortunately, that has not happened, so I decided to just post this chapter regardless and I'll fix it later on with her critiques. I'm quite sure she'll understand. And besides, I don't think that any of you can really complain about the few days of the delay, either. Although it is still a few days late, it still isn't actually the end of the week yet, so I've met my weekly quota, lol. ;)**

 **This chapter... I know it is a necessary part of the story and I think I did a great job writing it, but it broke my heart to be writing this. Do you all think I might have taken descriptions of this scene and character reactions too far? Do any of you have any idea how hard it is to be able to portray Naruto as genuinely cruel and angry when he's not fighting in a battle? It is extremely hard! I hope I didn't make him OOC in this chapter...**

 **As I said before, this chapter is currently unbetaed, but Silken Danser will be getting back to me with her critiques any day now, so it will be fixed very soon! Please be patient with all the typos.**

 **Did I say last time that 23 reviews broke my reviewer record? Well, that record has been broken again! For the very first time, one of my stories has broken the 100 review count! I cannot begin to express how happy that makes me! Since this story is currently at 110 reviews, that means that 34 people reviewed for the last chapter! It is time to personally thank all those wonderful readers:**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- PugCurl**

 **\- reviewer**

 **\- KawaiiKitsune13**

 **\- jonylol**

 **\- eniox27**

 **\- Ramrikai**

 **\- Futago-za07**

 **\- Guest (x5) (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- Jellytaco**

 **\- rk-tronix**

 **\- hinataellis**

 **\- Midnight Rain19**

 **\- Rogue390**

 **\- NH SHIPPER**

 **\- loveawkwardness**

 **\- janeee**

 **\- ForsakenMythr2012**

 **\- Hime-Love-97 (x2)**

 **\- icefox**

 **\- blukmage19r2**

 **\- kimmibers**

 **\- Miss Rizz**

 **\- Kiki1770**

 **\- unfitpuzzle**

 **\- Wondering Hail**

 **\- Kakau**

 **\- Chotsu**

 **\- gio08**

 **Thank you all so much for contributing to break the 100 review count! When I first started writing this story, it was really just for fun, and I didn't really think anyone would pay it too much attention. That's why you all have made my day reviewing this story! Please keep reviewing for this chapter, too! Every time I get a new review, it makes me so happy, and it inspires my desire to write! If you want the chapters to keep coming out on a daily basis, please keep reviewing! :)**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Like I said above, please don't forget to review when you're done reading! Reviews keep my creative juices flowing! Reviews = Another Chapter!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 5/17/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: The Truth Revealed**

With the Sound army officially defeated, no one had any problems at all with stopping for the night so that the medic-nin in their platoon could tend to 'Hiro's' injury. Since they were already near the bottom of the mountain, they could afford to take a quick delay in their march to the Imperial City and make one small stop.

Naruto was very insistent on stopping, actually. After the brave, heroic ninja had blacked out, he had personally carried the unconscious Hyuuga himself until the troops had found an even spot of snow where they could pitch up some tents. The first one was just a small tent that 'Hiro' would stay in while the medic-nin worked on treating him in private, while the other was a large strategy tent where Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and Ebisu were currently speaking privately. Any other tents that were set up belonged to the rest of the troops who had decided to use the delay as an excuse to get some extra shut eye. They were all still worried about 'Hiro,' of course, but after that battle, and marching nonstop for many hours previous to that, they all needed some rest.

Aside from the platoon leaders, there were only five other ninjas there that did not elect to get any sleep and stayed awake all night as they waited for news about their friend. Four ninjas from the Land of Fire and one ninja from the Land of Winds. Kiba and his dog Akamaru, Choji, Lee, Shino, and Kankuro all sat worriedly outside 'Hiro's' tent as they waited for news from the medic-nin that had been tending to their friend's injury all night.

None of them cared about how tired they were or the fact that they all had bags under their eyes rivaling that of Gaara's.

They were all going to be awake and ready to hear the news on their comrade's condition once the doctor was done treating him.

It was almost dawn now. Faint traces of morning sunlight were creeping up over the faraway horizon line as the men were slowly waking up, except for five ninjas in particular who were on the verge of falling asleep instead. They were all exhausted, and tended to nod off every now and then as fatigue threatened to overpower them, but every time one of them started to unintentionally drift off, another would give them a sharp smack upside the head to wake their comrade back up again.

In the meantime though, they tried to focus all their attention on the small conversation they were currently having so as to not think about how tired they were.

"I still can't believe Stutters pretty much ended the war for us!" Kiba exclaimed, gently patting Akamaru's head, which was resting on his lap as the canine blinked away a wave of tiredness washing over him.

"I know! When I first met him, I honestly thought he was a joke! The weakest Hyuuga to have ever come out of the entire Hyuuga clan! But now look at him!" Kankuro said, pausing momentarily so as to cover his mouth when he yawned. "The hero of the war!"

"His method was unorthodox and reckless, but it cannot be denied that his plan worked," remarked Shino, rubbing his eyes underneath his dark shades. "We should all be grateful to him."

"No kidding! I'll have to remember to invite him to visit my hometown when this is all over! I'll treat him to an all-you-can-eat buffet at my favorite barbeque shop!" Choji exclaimed.

"Yosh! I have never met anyone whose flames of youth burned brighter than mine or the amazing power of Gai-sensei's! Perhaps I can convince my master to take him on as an extra student after this war is over! I am sure Hiro's flames of youth will only grow brighter and stronger if he decides to train under Gai-sensei's tutelage!" said Lee. Despite being awake all night, waiting to hear news on 'Hiro's' condition, he was the only one there that looked wide awake. It was one of the perks of being an overly energetic ninja.

They weren't the only ones who were near the tent and anxiously awaiting to hear news from the medic-nin on whether or not 'Hiro' Hyuuga, otherwise known as Hinata Hyuuga, would be all right. Rin refused to be tied up anywhere outside of a ten foot radius of the tent, and he had been pawing and whinnying worriedly all night long. Hidden in the knapsack beside Rin's hitch post, Kurama and Usagi were peeking out of the open flap and watching the tent nervously. Usagi didn't even try to hide her nervous whimpers of concern for the elder sister of her summoner, but Kurama had a blank expression as he stared at the tent. If one did not know him well, they would assume that he felt nothing at all about the young heiress's current condition, but upon careful inspection, the fox guardian's eyes did not flicker away once from the tent nearby, and he was pawing the inside of the knapsack repeatedly, not even realizing that he was doing it. The fox didn't know when exactly Hinata Hyuuga had broken through the harsh pretense he put up in front of everyone else, but somehow, the shy, kind heiress had earned his trust and respect. He couldn't even remember the last time he had ever been so worried about anyone.

At that moment, the tent flaps swung open, and everyone immediately looked up eagerly, waiting to hear the news. The medic-nin, a ninja hailing from somewhere within Kumogakure judging by his forehead protector, had dried blood staining his hands from dealing with 'Hiro's' injury, and was carrying a small medical supply bag over his shoulder. He had a troubled expression on his face, and was looking around in every direction for someone in particular.

Kiba and Akamaru, Kankuro, Shino, Choji, and Lee all stood up at once.

"Yo! Dude! Is Hiro going to make it?" Kiba asked.

The medic jumped at the voice and spun around, but the dazed expression didn't once leave his face. The others saw how peculiar he looked, and stared at him queerly.

"What's wrong? He's not… He's not dead, is he?" asked Kankuro worriedly.

The doctor shook his head at the question, but still, he looked as though he had seen a ghost.

"Where's… Where's Captain Naruto?" he slowly asked.

The five ninjas all blinked at the abrupt question.

"Huh?" said Choji.

"Where's Captain Naruto?" the Kumo medic repeated.

Shino tilted his head slightly to express his confusion, but then pointed off to the side where the strategy tent had been set up. "In there, but why—"

The medic-nin didn't wait for Shino to finish speaking. He all but ran to the strategy tent as soon as Shino told him where he could find the squad leader, leaving the four Konoha nins and the one Suna nin blinking after him with puzzled expressions on their faces.

"What was that about?" Lee asked rhetorically.

The others shrugged, and immediately turned to look at the tent that they all knew their friend was resting in. The medic had told them that their comrade wasn't at death's door, so what was the problem? All of them wanted to step forward to check in on their friend, but they were all too confused to move.

Just what the hell was going on?

* * *

"Naruto, it doesn't matter how many times you walk across the expanse of this tent. We'll find out how he is when the medic is done. Stop acting so troublesome."

"That's easy for you to say, Shikamaru! You're not the one who was single-handedly rescued from death!"

"Shikamaru has a point though. Stop pacing around. You're driving us all mad."

"Shut up, Sasuke!"

Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru all sighed as they watched their blonde-haired friend glare at them irritably for a moment before resuming his constant pacing around the small space provided inside the tent. He had been doing this for hours now. At first, it had been easy for the three to ignore him. They tried to be like Kakashi and Ebisu who were both tuning him out as one read the latest chapter of a certain orange paperback book and the other jotted down the events of the previous battle on a trademark brown clipboard. However, as time wore on, the constant movement started to annoy them, and they couldn't stop themselves from speaking up and telling him to quit it.

Naruto was annoyed by their constant pleas to tell him to stop his pacing. He actually didn't know why he was so worried. Like he told his friends, he was worried about 'Hiro,' but what he didn't fully get was how worried he was. If any man in the platoon had gotten hurt, he would naturally worry about them, but perhaps not to the extent that he currently was. He felt angry at Orochimaru for hurting his friend so badly, worried that 'Hiro' might never wake up, self-blame that he hadn't run out there sooner and protected his friend against the sword slash, and sad that Hiro had gotten hurt in the first place.

All in all, Naruto was quite a mess, and although most of his friends would call him an idiot for being so emotionally discombobulated, this was one thing that he could not understand no matter how hard he tried to wrap his head around it. Why did he feel this way? Was it because 'Hiro' had not only single-handedly stopped Orochimaru and the Sound army, but had also consequently saved his life? Was it maybe due to the fact that he now considered the Hyuuga to be one of his closest friends? What was the reason for the way his heart felt like it was in absolute pain?

"Naruto, we understand you are worried, but you have been doing that all night," said Gaara tonelessly. "If you want to worry, at least sit down in a chair and rest while you fidget."

"I must agree with Gaara, Naruto," Kakashi chimed in, not even looking up from the page in his book as he spoke. "You've been up all night. Try to take a nap. We'll wake you if there's any news."

Naruto growled at his old teacher. "Listen here, Kakashi-sensei! I—"

The flaps to the large tent flew open, and the Kumo medic hurried inside, interrupting whatever it was Naruto had planned to say.

Everyone noticed the troubled expression on the doctor's face, and immediately feared the worst.

"Is… Is he all right?" asked Naruto slowly. "He's not… I mean… Is he…?"

The medic hurried to seal up the entrance to the tent before focusing all of his attention on the men in front of him. He didn't want what he had discovered to get out of this tent before the leaders had been informed. "I… I'm no Lady Tsunade or even the Kage Princess Sakura, but I treated the wound as best as I could. There shouldn't be any lasting damage. The Hyuuga ninja will be okay, provided nothing strenuous happens until the wound fully heals. I only know so much medical ninjutsu, after all. I'm no expert."

Ebisu nodded at once as he made a note of the recovery on his clipboard. "Good, good… How soon will he be well enough to travel?"

The Kumo medic didn't answer right away. If anything, he looked really uncomfortable.

"That's the thing… I'm not entirely sure any of you will want that Hyuuga to come with us…" he said slowly.

Everyone stared at him, not understanding why he would say such a thing.

"What are you talking about?" said Gaara, his eyes narrowed. "He is the hero of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Of course he is welcome to travel with us."

"Uh… well, I—"

"Choose your next words wisely. You have just said a grave insult about the hero of the war in front of all the leaders in this platoon," Sasuke reminded him.

The medic didn't reply right away. He scratched the back of his neck, seeming to be at a total loss for words for a few seconds. Finally, he looked back up at the six men who were staring expectantly at him.

"How much do all of you know about that Hyuuga out there?" he asked, sounding more nervous than ever.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, propped an elbow on his knee, and cupped his cheek in his hand as an annoyed look spread across his face. "Are you trying to be troublesome on purpose?" he groaned.

"Please just answer the question."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "We know just as much as you do. He is the heir to the Hyuuga main branch and is the son of Hiashi Hyuuga."

"And that _Hyuuga_ happens to have a name," Naruto growled as he folded his arms across his chest in irritation. "It's _Hiro!"_

"So… none of you are aware of the bandages that were wrapped around that ninja's chest…"

It wasn't a question. It was an honest statement, and no one missed how he once again refrained from using either a pronoun or 'Hiro's' name when describing their wounded comrade.

Naruto's scowl remained on his face, but he did blink a bit in surprise from this tidbit of information. "Bandages? What bandages? Does he have another injury we didn't know about?"

The Kumo ninja looked more uncomfortable than ever, and he glanced warily back over his shoulder at the entrance to the tent.

Naruto was becoming more annoyed by the minute. Just what the hell was this Kumo medic-nin trying to tell them? And moreover, why was he acting so disrespectful towards 'Hiro' by not even calling him by his own name? No one should ever insult the hero of the war, especially not in front of him.

He was about ready to hit the guy for being so rude and cryptic about his new friend, but he never got the chance to so much as take a single step forward, because that was when the Kumo ninja continued.

"No, sir. There's no additional injury under those bandages. They were there to hide the extra bodily aspects…"

Now everyone was really confused. What the hell was this guy trying to tell them?

The Kumo medic sighed a bit before taking a deep breath to try and gather his confidence, and then looked Naruto right in the eye.

"Captain Namikaze… please tell me that you've known all along that the Hyuuga representative is a woman…"

The tent exploded.

Kakashi dropped his favorite orange book.

Shikamaru fell off his chair.

Sasuke leapt to his feet.

Gaara's eyes went wide.

Ebisu started babbling in disbelief.

"Nonsense! I have his proof papers right here! It clearly states that he's related to Hiashi Hyuuga!"

"Related? Quite possibly, sir, but no man I know of has a set of breasts and no dick," replied the Kumo medic rather matter-of-factly.

As the others in the tent started demanding more answers from the Kumo ninja and to explain just what exactly he had seen on 'Hiro,' Naruto just stood there in complete shock, his anger all but gone. He had to absorb the words the Kumo ninja had just said for almost ten seconds until they fully set in. Hiro… Hiro couldn't be a woman! He was a man… he had to be!

"You're… You're lying…" said Naruto in disbelief, and everyone quieted down at once upon hearing him speak. "There's no way what you're saying is true…"

"Go take a look and see for yourself, Captain. That's a woman in that tent, not a man."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. He all but shoved the Kumo medic aside as he swept out of the tent with a stunned expression. He would go and see for himself. He wouldn't believe a single lie that that medic had told him until he saw it with his own eyes. For 'Hiro's' sake, it had all better be one big lie. And besides, no woman was that stupid. Women didn't belong on the battlefield. They stayed at home, safe and sound. They didn't disguise themselves as men and join the Allied Shinobi Forces. On the very slight, _slight_ chance that the doctor wasn't lying, why would a Hyuuga girl put herself into such a dangerous position?

Naruto ignored the befuddled expressions from the rest of the troops as he made his way towards 'Hiro's' tent. Kankuro, the only one of 'Hiro's' friends who knew Naruto well enough to feel comfortable with approaching him when he looked like this, stepped forward and tried to ask him what was going on, but Naruto just pushed past him without even seeing the Sunaese ninja. His eyes were firmly focused solely on the tent. There was a candle lit inside, and he could see the silhouette of the injured ninja trying to sit up, while at the same time fumbling with something on 'his' chest. A great deal of relief swept through Naruto momentarily when he saw that his Hyuuga friend was indeed alive and able to move, but still, he hadn't forgotten what he had been told by the Kumo medic.

Further away, hidden inside a certain knapsack near a certain snow white horse that happened to belong to the accused Hyuuga, Kurama and Usagi both saw the dumbstruck expression on Captain Naruto's face, and they both froze. They had a pretty good idea what that medic had probably told him and the other squad leaders. They had been so worried about whether or not Hinata would be okay, that it had never once occurred to either of them that they should be worried about the medic discovering the secret of Hinata's true gender.

As the rabbit spirit and the fox guardian exchanged nervous looks, Naruto marched right up to the tent entrance and flung the flaps aside.

* * *

Inside the tent, a certain misfit Hyuuga princess was slowly regaining consciousness after her long sleep. Hinata blinked a bit as her eyes slowly opened, and then groaned lightly while bringing her hand up to her head when she became slightly dizzy. Everything was a bit of a blur to her for a few seconds, but as her vision slowly cleared, she tried to focus on recalling what had happened to her. The last thing she remembered was Naruto telling her that she was a hero, and that everything was going to be okay. But why would he tell her that? What had happened, and where was she anyway?

Still in a bit of a lightheaded daze, Hinata turned her head from side to side to look around. She was alone at the moment, but judging from her surroundings, she appeared to be inside of a small tent. Most likely just a reserve one, because instead of her own personal one which was pure white, this one appeared to be light gray and the cloth ceiling above her sagged a little at the top. Either the tent had been put up in a rush and no one cared that it wasn't completely sturdy, or it had snowed at some point and the weight was causing the cloth structure to be the slightest bit unsteady. Whatever the reason was, it didn't really matter, because it was still warm inside. She seemed to be lying down on her back on a rather thin mattress that was hard like a board with a blanket thrown across her body to keep her warm and also for modesty's sake. In the far corner, there was also a small bowl of water with a tiny candle floating about inside it to provide a tiny bit of light.

Hinata still wasn't fully awake yet, though, and she couldn't help but wonder what was going on exactly. Why was she not in her own tent? And again, what happened before she blacked out?

She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through her stomach, and she yelped a bit before laying back down. Her whole stomach felt like it was on fire. Hazy memories of what had happened to her before began to filter little by little back into her brain. She was slowly starting to remember.

The fight on the mountainside…

Destroying the tip of the snowy mountain with the kunai and the explosive tag…

Orochimaru slashing at her with his infamous katana sword Kusanagi…

Battling the avalanche…

Saving Naruto's life…

It appeared as though she had survived the onslaught of snow she had brought down upon the Sound army, but judging by the burning pain in her stomach, she hadn't escaped entirely unscathed. Whoever had tended to her wound had healed her enough so that she wouldn't die immediately, but he must not have been a great medic-nin if she was still experiencing this much pain. She probably had a huge scar now on her lower abdomen. She didn't particularly care about scars. She was just thankful to still be alive, but she knew her father and the clan elders on the Hyuuga council would certainly care when she got back home, because scars would definitely make her undesirable to potential suitors. If she thought that it had been hard for her to find a husband before running off to war, it was going to be all but impossible, now. No man would ever want a girl with a big ugly scar stretching across her body.

She tried to sit up again, slowly this time and bracing herself for the pain that she knew she would be feeling in a few seconds time. As she moved upwards, the blanket slid off her body, and Hinata realized, much to her horror, that the only articles of clothing that she was currently wearing was the black hair band in her hair to keep it pulled back in its low masculine ponytail, and her set of black ninja pants. Not only was she not wearing her flak jacket or her cousin Neji's baggy white shirt, she was not wearing her breast bindings, either. The only bandages that were on her were the ones wrapped securely around her stomach where Orochimaru had slashed at her with his sword.

Her breasts were in plain view for everyone in the world to see!

This was bad!

Really, really bad!

Panic jolted through Hinata like never before as these thoughts rang throughout her head. Her secret had been discovered! By the camp doctor! She didn't have much time. She had to ignore the pain in her abdomen and bind up her chest again as quickly as possible. If she could find the medic who had treated her before he informed Naruto and the others, she might still have a chance! She could explain her reasons for doing this and could convince him to keep her secret. But she had to hurry!

Her head turned franticly from side to side in her panicked distress to search for her breast bindings. She couldn't find the ones she generally used, but she did spy a small roll of extra bandages in the corner. They would do for now. Her bindings didn't have to be perfect at the moment, they just had to last her a few minutes while she looked for the medic and pleaded her case.

She fully sat up and did her best to ignore the sharp stinging sensation in her lower body as she dived forward to seize the bandages. With shaky hands, she hurried to unravel the roll of white cloth and pressed the edge of the wrapping firmly against her bare chest. She was just about to start wrapping the white fabric several times around herself to flatten her chest down to a decent size again, when the tent flaps burst open.

Hinata squeaked as the roll of bandages slipped out of her hands and she looked up, scared beyond all belief.

Naruto stood above her, simply staring at the Hyuuga girl he had thought was a man since the day he met her three months ago. He was in complete shock. The Kumo medic-nin had been telling the truth. 'Hiro' wasn't a man… He wasn't even 'Hiro…' No man had breasts like the ones he was currently looking at…

The moment that last thought occurred to him, his cheeks tinted pink, and he quickly averted his eyes. Despite being the creator of the Sexy and Harem Jutsus back when he was twelve, and despite having someone who was a self-proclaimed super-pervert for both a godfather and a long term teacher, Naruto did know the meaning of respect towards the female race. It wasn't proper to be looking at a girl like this, what with her chest in plain view for the entire world to see.

Hinata seemed to realize this at the same time that he did, and a very loud, very _feminine_ shriek of complete embarrassment and mortification escaped her lips as her entire face turned bright, bright red. She ignored the pain in her abdomen as she lunged for the blanket that had been draped over her when she woke up, and hurried to cover herself. Out of all the times that she had become overly embarrassed since joining the army, from the humiliating bath incident at the lake back at the training camp, to hearing about the sexual preferences of her friends while on the journey here to the front lines, none of them could hold a candle to this moment. Naruto had just seen her bare chest. He had seen her half naked. If it weren't for the fact that this was a gravely serious moment, since her secret was now out in the open, she was quite sure that she would have fainted out of pure shock.

Naruto saw the stranger with 'Hiro's' face hastily covering herself up with the blanket out of the corner of his eye and sighed. He really had no idea what he was supposed to think. 'Hiro' really was a woman. The person sitting on the floor in front of him was undoubtedly a Hyuuga, but she was a woman, not Hiashi Hyuuga's son and heir. Who was she then? Why would the Hyuuga clan, one of the oldest, most respected ninja clans in all of the Land of Fire, commit treason like this and send a girl into the war instead of one of their many well-known and respected male ninjas? Hiashi Hyuuga had a nephew, right? That Neji guy? Wasn't he supposed to be some sort of ninja prodigy? Why hadn't he come instead of this girl? Naruto was so confused. Why would an indigo-haired Hyuuga girl put herself in such a dangerous—

Naruto's thoughts came to a crashing halt.

Indigo-haired girl…

Hyuuga girl…

A red scarf she had worn in front of him on the way up the mountain…

His fists clenched up into tight, shaking balls. Red hot rage that he had never known that he possessed started coursing through Naruto like never before. He was mad. Beyond mad. Not only had this girl — whoever she was — lied to everyone about her true gender, she had specifically lied to him! He had told her straight up that he was looking for a blue-haired Hyuuga girl that he had saved from bullies back when he was a kid, and had even recognized the red scarf she had worn in front of him, but instead of telling him that it was really her that he was looking for, she had said that it had been given to her by another girl as a good luck charm during the course of the war.

He had trusted 'Hiro' with that information!

Hell, he had trusted 'Hiro' with the truth about all the trouble he was getting from being an Uzumaki descendant!

This girl, the one he had been searching for, had betrayed that trust!

She had _lied_ to him!

'Hiro' Hyuuga had been so close to becoming one of his most trusted friends outside of Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru, but that was all gone now. That trust was shattered completely.

His head snapped back around to glare at her, and when Hinata saw the iciness in his blue eyes, eyes that were generally friendly and fun-loving, she cringed backwards slightly and bit her lip worriedly before slowly looking away. She couldn't help but feel deeply ashamed of herself.

" _Who the hell are you?!"_

Hinata flinched at the sharp words before looking back up desperately at the furious young man that she had fallen in love with over the course of the past few months. "P-Please, I… I can explain…" she whispered pleadingly in her normal female voice, tightening her grip on the blankets around her bare chest.

Naruto folded his arms as he gritted his teeth together, trying his best to calm down a bit and not yell. "Explain," he demanded. There had to be some sort of logical explanation for this deception. He was still furious beyond all belief, but the small part of his brain that was not overcome by fury and was still working rationally wanted to know one thing: _Why?_

Relief soared throughout Hinata's entire body from those words, and she couldn't help but smile slightly. If Naruto was willing to hear her out, maybe she could convince him to keep quiet about her true gender and perhaps pardon her. Surely he would understand! She started to open her mouth to begin her explanation, but at that moment, the tent flaps flew open a second time as someone burst inside.

Naruto and Hinata both jumped slightly upon sensing the sudden cold morning winds entering the confines of the tent space and the natural rays of early morning light flooded inside. Both their heads snapped around to see who had come in.

Ebisu stood in the middle of the entryway of the tent, looking just as shocked as Naruto had been moments ago as he stared down at the frightened girl sitting in front of him with the thin blanket wrapped securely around her chest to try and preserve her modesty. He recovered quickly, though, and then began glaring hatefully down at Hinata. "So it's true!" he hissed.

For once, Naruto didn't particularly care what the petty camp inspector thought. He was too angry. Angry at being deceived by this woman that was cowering fearfully at his feet, but also angry at himself for not realizing on his own that there was something off with the so-called Hyuuga heir.

He shot one last cold, furious glare down at the girl sitting in front of him, and then threw the tent flaps aside before storming out.

Hinata's heart broke when she saw him leave her. "W-Wait! Please! Naruto—"

She was cut off by Ebisu suddenly stepping forward and seizing hold of one of her arms very tightly. She yelped in pain from both her injury and from how hard he was squeezing her arm, but made sure not to let go of the thin blanket as he began dragging her harshly outside.

* * *

By now, all of the men in the platoon were awake. They had all heard from 'Hiro's' friends that although the medic had informed them that he would be okay, there was something strange going on judging by the way he had all but run off to the strategy tent to speak with the camp leaders immediately after treating their friend. The strange situation had only become odder when Naruto and Ebisu had hurried inside their injured comrade's tent with shock plainly written on their faces to see 'Hiro' for themselves while Gaara, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Kakashi waited directly outside with unreadable expressions. Upon witnessing all this, everyone had crowded curiously around the outside of the tent. They didn't know what was going on exactly, but they all waited for Naruto and Ebisu to leave the tent so that they could all take turns going in to see their Hyuuga comrade. They all wished to congratulate 'Hiro' again for his daring plan and for pretty much ending the war against Orochimaru and the Sound army.

But instead of Naruto coming outside with a relieved expression on his face and ordering Ebisu to leave the Hyuuga alone so that people could take turns visiting their wounded comrade, Naruto all but stomped furiously out of the tent with the angriest expression they had ever seen on him before. He was raving mad, and he marched over to Gaara, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Kakashi while nodding his head at some sort of unanswered question. All four sets of eyes widened at seeing his nod.

The other men were confused, but before anyone there could ask the squad leaders what was going on, Ebisu stormed out of the tent next, dragging the injured young man out behind him by the arm, and 'Hiro' looked absolutely terrified as he stared up fearfully at the Kage advisor while trying to keep his blanket wrapped tightly around his body. With every rough movement that Ebisu forced upon him, 'Hiro' would cry out loudly in great pain and stagger a bit as his stomach was twisted and stretched. Everyone stared in complete shock. What was Ebisu doing?! 'Hiro' was in no condition to be dragged around like that!

Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro all stood up at once and moved forward a few steps to yank the seemingly cruel advisor off of their friend, but that's when Ebisu turned his head sharply towards the frightened Hyuuga and began shouting at him.

"I _knew_ there was something wrong with you!" he accused him in front of everyone. "I _knew_ it was fishy that no one had ever heard of Hiashi Hyuuga's so-called son before!"

Everyone continued to stare at them, confused beyond all belief, but as Ebisu reached forward to yank the black hair band that 'Hiro' always used to tie his hair back with, 'Hiro' screamed.

"N-No! Don't!"

He started to struggle as best as he could despite the pain in his abdomen to separate himself from Ebisu, but Ebisu backhanded him hard across the face. As 'Hiro' groaned in pain as his lower lip was split open, many men, not just 'Hiro's' army friends, all stepped forward so as to jerk Ebisu off their comrade, but Ebisu was far too quick. He used the Hyuuga's moment of weakness to seize the black hair band out of his hair, and 'Hiro's' indigo-blue hair fell out from its low ponytail and began to frame his face. For the first time, everyone saw just what he really looked like.

"A woman!" Ebisu announced furiously.

Collective gasps of shock and horror spread rapidly among all the ninjas. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. The stranger in front of them was still a Hyuuga judging by those pupil-less white eyes, but it wasn't a man anymore. It was a girl. Nobody there wanted to believe it, but sure enough, as soon as the hair band had been roughly ripped out of the blue hair of the person they had once called 'Hiro', they could see it. The soft features in the face, the brightness in the pearlescent eyes, the length and silkiness of the hair, the size of the chest… Oh wow that chest… The girl obviously hadn't had the chance to try and do anything in order to preserve her modesty other than grab the blanket and wrap it around herself before Ebisu had hauled her out here so as to reveal the truth to all of them, and they could all see the rather large, peachy pink mounds peeking out at them from the slits in the blanket. Despite what many of them had been talking about only days ago about loving huge tits, quite a few of them turned a tad bit red when they saw this.

Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro in particular were completely stunned. This… This couldn't be real… Was this a dream? Had they all fallen asleep at some point during the night and they were now all sharing the same, horrible nightmare? They would even be willing to believe that someone had used a genjutsu on them to make them hallucinate this, but the more they stared on at Ebisu and the red-faced, humiliated Hyuuga girl, and then turned to stare at one another with horrified expressions, they were forced to come to the conclusion that this was indeed reality.

The more they stopped to think about it, the more everything suddenly made a lot of sense.

The fact that no one had ever heard of 'Hiro' Hyuuga before the start of the war.

The fact that he had sucked at all ninja-skills at the beginning of training.

The fact that he had been so desperate to get away from all of them that one night in the bath.

The fact that he hadn't wanted to talk about his preferences in girls during the hike up here in the mountains.

Everything fit together perfectly like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. They had all just been too blind to see it.

In the case of 'Hiro's' friends, the two Co-Captains, and the leading Tactician, the memory of the bath they had taken with the Hyuuga girl in front of them suddenly flooded back into their minds, and they all turned bright red. They abruptly realized just how close they had been to a naked, embarrassed girl who had obviously been uncomfortable with their close proximity when they had gotten right up in her face, especially since they had been naked themselves. Lee in particular turned even redder than the rest of them when he realized that she had gotten a full view of _every_ part of his naked body when he had stood up and towered over everyone on that huge rock in the middle of the lake.

Hinata's face flared red hot from humiliation, and she hung her head shamefully as she heard the others start muttering amongst themselves. She could imagine what they were all thinking. She couldn't blame any of them for being as shocked as they were. This had never happened before, discovering a woman disguised as a man in the Allied Shinobi Forces. They must all surely hate her now. They no longer thought of her as 'Hiro the Hero.' It was back to being 'Hinata the Disgraceful Heiress.' She truly was a failure.

She spared a sad look out at all of her ninja comrades as Ebisu continued to painfully squeeze her upper arm. Most of the men were just staring at her in complete shock, but there were a few that were actively glaring at her. Her friends, Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro fell into the first group, as did Shikamaru and Kakashi, but Sasuke and Gaara were among those who were looking at her as though she was no better than trash, as though she was no better than any of their former enemies in the Sound army. She was deeply hurt by their glares, but she understood why they were glaring at her the way they were. It was a high crime for a woman to impersonate a male ninja.

But Hinata could feel one particular set of eyes that were not staring or glaring at her, and when she turned her head to search for the one person whose opinion mattered the most to her, her thoughts were confirmed. Naruto had his back facing her and his arms were crossed, but she didn't doubt for a second that his attention was not on her. He was just so disgusted and angry that he couldn't even bear to look at her.

She opened her mouth to try and explain herself to everyone, but Ebisu suddenly flung her hard to the ground. Hinata cried out loudly as the cold snow burned against the hot flesh surrounding the slash in her abdomen. She whimpered slightly upon feeling the abruptly agonizing pang in her lower body, and then she felt something warm and wet running on the ground underneath her. Her stomach was searing in sharp, aching pains. She could only assume that her wound must have opened up and she was bleeding again. Whoever the medic-nin was that had been in charge of treating her really did a horrible job if a simple fall like that was enough to make her injury re-open.

As she tried to wrap her thin blanket securely around herself again so that no one would catch a glimpse of her bare chest, Ebisu sneered at her pathetic form. "Treacherous snake!" he spat in pure disgust.

Her cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red as she averted her eyes away from everyone so as to stare helplessly down at the snowy ground. With a quick wipe of the back of her hand against her split lower lip to clear away the blood that had begun flowing out of it, she slowly began to speak.

"P-Please…" she whimpered out. "I… My name is H-Hinata… I'm the heiress to the m-main branch in the Hyuuga clan…"

Everyone, even the furious Gaara and Sasuke, did a double take upon hearing that, and more shocked whispers and murmurs filled the air. Not only was there a girl in front of them, but apparently a clan heiress. And not just any clan heiress, but the heiress to the prestigious Hyuuga clan. Why on earth would a girl, who undoubtedly had everything she could ever possibly want from being the eldest daughter of a highly esteemed lord, risk not only her life, but her entire birthright to pull off such a dangerous deception?

But Hinata wasn't looking at any of them. Her eyes were focused solely on Naruto, and although her next words were still filled with her terror from the fact that everyone now knew who she really was, they did not waver in the slightest. "I did it to save my father…"

A jolt ran through Naruto upon hearing that, and he glanced over his shoulder a bit to look back at her.

Hinata bowed her head, and continued to explain. "I… I s-said it before… My cousin Neji got m-married. My father… My father didn't w-want him to come. He insisted on c-coming himself… But… But he has a b-bad leg! He wouldn't have lasted one day—"

She was cut off when Ebisu back handed her hard across the face again, and many men couldn't help but recoil slightly when they heard her screech in pain as she fell back down into the cold snow.

"High treason!" the advisor shouted.

Pain-filled tears started overflowing from the pearlescent eyes of the young heiress as Hinata slowly sat back up. She pressed her hand firmly against the red hand print that was spreading across her right cheek to try and relieve the swelling, and then tried to make a weak protest. "I n-never… I never meant f-for it to go this far!"

Ebisu got down right into her face. "Ultimate dishonor!" he spat at her, making her shy away a bit when flecks of his spit landed on her face. "Ultimate dishonor on the entire Hyuuga clan!"

But Hinata had finally had enough of him constantly yelling at her. She knew that no one else in the squad would dare to step forward to try and defend her. They were all too angry themselves or simply too shocked and confused. There was only one person here that could help her, and even though she couldn't fully see his face over his shoulder where he was glancing back at her, she knew he was listening to everything she was saying.

" _It was the only way!"_ she all but screamed in Naruto's direction.

Many of the others blinked a bit when they heard her scream like that. Even though they knew the person that they had thought to be 'Hiro' had never actually existed and was instead this liar called Hinata, they did know that the Hyuuga in front of them rarely ever yelled, so this was a shock.

Naruto, however, just closed his eyes when he heard those words, and turned his head away from his shoulder.

Hinata's heart clenched painfully in her chest when she saw him turn away, and she couldn't stop the tears that silently began to run down her cheeks. "P-Please… Please believe me..." she pleaded, her words no louder than a soft, quivering whisper.

Ebisu just scoffed at her pitiful plea before marching his way right up to Naruto. As the leader of the last remaining squad of the Allied Shinobi Forces, it was his duty to carry out the long standing tradition: execute the traitors.

"Captain?" Ebisu prompted, his hands on his hips and a scowl plastered across his face.

Naruto didn't move at first. He was angry at the girl's deceit, but he didn't want to do this. In all his years of being a proud Leaf shinobi, he had never cut down a woman or child. It was something he had never wanted to do. Women and children weren't supposed to meet such a cruel end. But now…? Naruto didn't believe that traitors should get away with betraying their fellow ninja comrades and their country, but it wasn't like this girl was a Sound spy or anything. She hadn't meant any harm. If she was telling the truth and her father really was that bad off—

" _Captain Uzumaki!"_ Ebisu snapped pointedly.

Naruto's hands balled up into tight fists again. Ebisu had done that intentionally, reminding him of his mother's side of the family. Although his mother had never done anything wrong, he was still the descendant of a traitorous clan. If he wanted to be considered different from other Uzumaki's, and from traitors in general, he had to prove it, and the only way to do that was by doing what he had to against this girl. This so-called Hinata.

His glare returned to his face as he turned to look fully back over his shoulder at the Hyuuga girl, the newly revealed Hyuuga clan heiress. She was shivering in the snow as she kept the blanket firmly wrapped around her chest so as to not reveal any more of her feminine body to the rest of the troops. Her indigo-colored hair swept around her tear-stained face, which would every now and then cringe a bit whenever she accidentally twisted her body in a way that caused her stomach great pain. Her cheeks were flushed red from both her humiliation and the cold, but her eyes…

Her pearlescent eyes revealed so many emotions to him. Fear reflected in her eyes, as she knew full well that this could very well be the last few moments of her life. Sadness stared back at him, as she grieved that things had had to end this way. Resolve shined brightly, showing that despite how scared she was, she didn't regret her choice to do this and would have gladly done it all over again. And then there was something else, something he couldn't quite place. For a moment, he thought it was pity for herself over this situation, but she didn't seem to be upset at all with herself. She was staring only at him, and despite the sad look on her face, she seemed to look, if not happy, then at least content when looking up into his eyes.

Naruto didn't know what this Hinata girl could possibly be thinking for there to be such a strange look on her face, but for some reason, seeing that look on her made him even angrier.

Everyone in the platoon held their breath as Naruto fully turned back around, seemingly deep in thought.

Hinata didn't dare to break her eye contact with Naruto. She knew he was absolutely furious with her, but even so, she didn't regret her decision to take her father's place in the Allied Shinobi Forces. She was happy he would still live a good few more years. She just hated that she had to hurt Naruto so badly by hiding her true self from him. She never meant any harm to him or any of her friends. She only wanted to save her father from an untimely death. Well now, she was about to pay the price for her decision. She had saved her father from an inevitable death, but now she was going to be killed in his place.

And besides, she was in love with Naruto. Despite this very well being her last few minutes on earth, above all else, she didn't regret falling in love with him. Even if he spent the rest of his life hating her for her deception, she would die happy right now knowing that she had found her childhood sweetheart and had fallen in love with him all over again as a young woman. The wonderful, kind boy who had saved her from bullies and had given her his red scarf… he was even better than she had imagined him to be when she had fantasized about him while growing up. He was kind, brave, and he could always bring a smile to her face. So even though she knew he would most likely never forgive her for what she had done to him, to everyone, she would never regret the choices that she had made that led her to being where she was today.

If she regretted anything, it was the fact that the last memory her family would have of her was of her running out into the rain after an argument with her father at dinner. They had all been fast asleep when she stole away into the night to the training camp. They never really heard the goodbyes she had whispered in their ears while they had been sleeping. They never even realized what she had done until it was far too late to stop her.

Neji and Tenten… if they ever had a child someday, she would never get the chance to even meet him or her…

Hanabi… she would never get the chance to watch her grow up…

Her mother… she would never get the chance to apologize to her for not being the perfect daughter and bride her mother had always tried to groom her into…

Her father… she would never get the chance to make up for the shame she had dishonored him with…

If anything, her good intentions had only succeeded in further shaming him, and the rest of the Hyuuga clan, too. She was truly the most pathetic girl in the world…

She bit her lower lip again, and tasted the blood running down her split lip when the metallic texture slid across her tongue, but other than that, she didn't move. She just sat there sadly and waited for the inevitable final judgment.

Finally, Naruto took a deep breath to prepare himself as he reached an ultimate decision, and then exhaled loudly as he started walking slowly up to her. As he marched forward, he drew a single kunai from his weapons pouch without even looking at it, not once breaking eye contact with Hinata.

Kurama and Usagi both went wide eyed when they saw the Captain draw the blade. Usagi bleated out several heartbroken squeaks, horrified of what was about to happen to such a kind, wonderful person, but Kurama was absolutely silent in shock. Not only could he not believe that such a generally good-natured boy was about to do this, but he himself couldn't believe that they were really going to kill Hinata. He didn't know why, but it felt like a part of him was aching from knowing what was about to happen. He still didn't entirely like humans, but Hinata was the one exception. She was a sweet, loving girl who cared so much about the people around her. She didn't deserve this, but as much as he wanted to interfere, he couldn't. As a Hyuuga clan guardian, he was only supposed to guide and help train his human charge. He wasn't supposed to actually meddle in human affairs. Usagi could if she wanted to. She was simply a spirit companion and could actively use her spirit powers to protect Hinata since this was a life or death situation, but the tiny little bunny was so distraught right now by what she was witnessing that she seemed to have forgotten that fact. So all in all, there was nothing they could do to stop this.

Rin on the other hand didn't need any special powers or specific permission to try and stop this, as he was just a normal, everyday horse. He saw the blonde boy draw the small knife and approach his mistress, and he started neighing wildly in complete outrage before rearing up on his hind legs to try and attack him. He would not allow any harm to come to his beloved mistress! He would gladly die first!

Ebisu noticed this, and quickly turned his head sharply towards the man nearest to the enraged stallion, a ninja from the Land of Water. "Restrain him!" he barked. Reluctantly, the ninja came forward, and seized hold of Rin's reins to keep him steady while wrapping his other arm around the back of his neck to force him to keep his head down. Rin whinnied furiously, but no matter how hard he struggled, he was unable to get free.

"R-Rin!" Hinata gasped as she saw her trusty horse forcibly restrained. It hurt her so much to see her most trusted and loyal friend being pinned down like that.

As Naruto drew steadily closer to her huddled up figure, Kankuro marched his way over to Gaara, and the rest of his friends hurried after him. Like Sasuke, Gaara was watching all of this with a seemingly emotionlessly expression.

"Gaara! In the name of every god and spirit I know of, stop him!" the puppet master snapped at his younger brother. "Woman or not, we'd all be dead if it weren't for her!"

Kiba, Choji, Shino, and Lee all nodded in obvious agreement. Hinata couldn't help but gratefully smile when she saw and heard this. Her fellow army friends might be shocked and hurt from her deception, but she was touched that they apparently still liked her well enough to try and beg for her life.

Gaara's face was rigid, as was Sasuke's beside him. They both had active sneers across their lips and their brows were furrowed as they looked on at the soon-to-be killed Hyuuga before them, but their eyes were filled with pity. They were trying to seem as though they approved of this since they were the next ones in charge after Naruto, but it was obvious to those that knew them very well that their glares were forced. They might not be pleased with the discovery of Hinata's true identity, but they certainly did not agree with this.

Kankuro recognized this, as he knew his little brother very well, and he quickly clamped his hand down on his brother's shoulder to forcibly spin the redhead around to face him. _"Gaara!"_ he snarled.

Gaara kept a carefully controlled expression on his face as he sighed. "We do not have a choice, Kankuro. You know the law." He said it as though it was the final word, but everyone could hear the barely noticeable sound of regret in his voice.

Sasuke stiffly nodded beside him, but he did not once tear his eyes away from the form of his best friend as he continued walking slowly forward. Kakashi looked sad as he folded his arms across his chest, but otherwise did nothing, and Shikamaru just sighed before turning his head away, not wanting to bear witness to what was about to happen. None of them thought this was right, but just as Gaara had said, this was the law. Girls weren't supposed to be part of the Allied Shinobi Forces. This girl had broken the law, and that made her a traitor. She had to die. They personally didn't believe this was right, but they couldn't do anything to prevent it from happening, either. The only one who could put a stop to this was Naruto, and by the looks of it, he fully intended to carry out the long standing tradition.

At long last, Naruto came to a complete stop in front of Hinata. Hinata stared sadly up at him for a moment through her blurry vision fogged up with her tears, but then sighed and lowered herself down in front of him in a submissive bow. If she was going to die, she would not further humiliate herself in front of everyone by wailing at the top of her lungs for mercy. A few tears were all that she would spare, as she would leave this world with some shred of her dignity still intact.

For a long moment, Naruto just silently stared at her in disbelief. Why wouldn't she say anything? For some reason, the fact that she was just sitting there and waiting to accept her fate bothered him far more than any desperate plea she could have said right then, begging him to spare her. His heart ached at knowing what he had to do, but he didn't have a choice. This was how things were done in the ninja world.

He started to raise the kunai in his hand to deliver the death blow, but when he saw which particular kunai he was holding, he completely froze.

It was not one of his regular kunais.

It was the special tri-pronged kunai his father had given to him before he left for the front lines.

It was the last thing his father had ever given to him before he died.

The sight of this seemingly simple object sent a jolt through Naruto, and a million thoughts ran through his head in the brief pause before cutting Hinata down.

His father would never do something like this. If anything, his father, Minato Namikaze, the man who would have become the Fourth Hokage if this war had never happened, would most likely be ashamed of him for even considering doing this, because he had protected both him and his mother. His wonderful mother, a woman who was unfortunately related to the traitorous Uzumaki clan, could have easily been murdered by angry civilians after the last war when the Whirlpool Nation screwed the country over if his father hadn't protected both of them. Part of the reason why his father did that was because of love, but it was also because he knew that justice wasn't supposed to be delivered out in such a brutal way. If his father were alive right now, he would be so disappointed in him for doing such a despicable deed.

And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that although he was upset and angry with the girl lying in the snow in front of him for deceiving him and everyone else, he couldn't help but put himself in her shoes. He knew what it felt like to have a father that he loved with all his heart. If she was telling the truth and her father really did have a bad leg, she was right when she told them that it was all but inevitable that he would have died in the first battle out on the front lines.

If he had been in her place, and his father had a crippled leg, wouldn't he have wanted to do everything he could to save his father from such a horrible death?

The moment he thought this, he realized that he didn't actually want to hurt Hinata.

She was a liar, and other than the now dead Orochimaru, there was nobody he hated more in this world than liars, but even though she was actually a woman, Hinata was still 'Hiro,' too.

'Hiro' was the one who had impressed him by being the first person to correctly channel his chakra to climb to the top of the pine pole and retrieve his father's kunai.

'Hiro' was the one who had been curious about his past, and Naruto had opened up to him about his traitorous family tree.

'Hiro' was the one who had comforted him by the large funeral fire in the destroyed village as he mourned the life of his father and godfather.

'Hiro' was the one who had singlehandedly stopped the entirety of the Sound army with an impromptu avalanche, and had saved his life when he got swept away with the snow.

'Hiro' was Hinata, the girl he had fallen for back when he was a child.

Naruto didn't know if he could ever forgive the girl he now called Hinata for all her treasonous lies, but he did know one thing:

'Hiro' was his friend.

That was the last thought in his mind before the tri-pronged kunai soared downward through the air…

…and landed harmlessly in the snow in front of the embarrassed, humiliated young woman.

For a long moment, everything was absolutely silent as everyone stared at Naruto in utter disbelief. Judging by how mad he looked a few seconds ago, everyone was convinced that he was actually going to go ahead and do it. He had looked so enraged and determined, and then… he just threw it away. But why?

No one there looked more surprised than Hinata, though. She stared down at the three bladed kunai lying in the snow in front of her with wide, shocked eyes. Then she glanced back up at the still angry, but somewhat calmer blonde standing before her in complete confusion. She didn't understand. Why hadn't he done it? Why hadn't he executed her like he was supposed to?

Naruto didn't meet her gaze. He just glared down at a patch of snow a little ways off to the side. He was still angry at her, that much was clear, but he made no move whatsoever to retrieve his father's special kunai that he had thrown down at her feet.

"A life for life," he muttered lowly under his breath, but the entire mountainside was so silent, everyone heard him perfectly clear. "My debt is repaid…"

And without another word, he turned around sharply on his heel. He ignored the stupefied expressions from both his friends and the other men as he collected his personal belongings and ninja gear, and started marching off in the direction that lead the way down the mountain, toward the still faraway Imperial City.

"Move out!" he shouted over his shoulder at all the men, his glare still firmly fixed on his face. His gaze fell back onto Hinata's shocked, hunched up form on the snowy ground staring after him, and he forced himself to ignore the feelings of both sadness and regret that welled up deep inside his chest when he saw her, and instead broke eye contact as he firmly jerked his head back around so as to stare straight ahead while continuing to march away.

If people hadn't been stunned before with Naruto's mysterious decision to not kill the Hyuuga heiress, they were absolutely shocked by this. They were just going to leave her here? In the middle of nowhere in the cold snow on top of a mountain? Naruto may not be delivering the death blow to Hinata, but he was still essentially killing her. To be completely stranded out here in the cold like this with an injury as severe as the one she had was essentially a death sentence all on its own. It wasn't just inhumane. It was cruel. No one, not even Naruto's closest friends, could believe what he had just said. They never thought he would do something like this…

There was only one man there that had the courage to try and approach Naruto in protest as he stormed off in his raging march. It was Ebisu, but he was not protesting Naruto's decision to just leave Hinata stranded out here. He was protesting his decision to leave the young girl alive at all.

"B-But… _Captain Uzumaki!_ Y-You can't just—"

But Naruto had finally had enough of thinking about traitors. Not just when it came to everything involved with Hinata, but also in his own family tree. He was tired of Ebisu always tormenting him with that horrible last name. A name that wasn't even really his. Within seconds, Naruto had seized the irritable Kage advisor by the collar of his shirt, and yanked him off the ground by the fabric. His eyes were icy cold as he glared hatefully at the veteran shinobi.

For the first time, Ebisu couldn't help but cringe back a bit rather fearfully when he looked at Naruto, and he regretted his decision to try and protest the Captain's twisted show of mercy.

"I _said,"_ he snarled in such a deadly, frightening tone, nearly everyone in the vicinity took an automatic step back. "Move out!"

With a fearful gulp, Ebisu meekly nodded, and upon seeing this, everyone slowly began to gather and pack up their things before following sadly along after Naruto. He had already begun trudging angrily through the snow once again, determined to get as far away from the lying, despicable Hyuuga girl as he possibly could.

Many of the men glanced over at the young woman huddled in the snow wrapped up in only a thin blanket as they left, but Hinata did her best to avoid making eye contact with any of them. Their expressions ranged from one spectrum to another. Some of them were sending her a number of curious looks, while others looked at her with pity in their eyes. A few looked rather concerned about her as they hurried along after the camp leaders, and a few glared and spat at her as they passed by. But still, no one dared to approach or speak to the disgraced young woman as she sat there on the ground, trying her hardest not to cry.

The entire time, Hinata didn't move. She seemed to be in blank shock outwardly as they left her there in the snow, but inside, she was a wreck of emotions. While she had been spared from the death of being struck down with a sharp blade, she was being abandoned in the snow to die at her own time. The difference in these two different types of death was astonishing to her, and she was having difficulty processing this in her mind.

She only really snapped out of it slightly when the last members in the troop walked past her, and she spared those that were leaving a quick glance out of the corner of her eye. Shikamaru and Kakashi simply looked down at her with queer expressions, as though trying to figure her out even though she had already explained her reason for doing this, but Sasuke and Gaara just avoided looking at her all together. It hurt Hinata deeply to be ignored like that, but she still thought it was better than being spat on like some of the other ninjas in the platoon had done.

And besides, she didn't know any of them well enough to be too upset by their reactions. It was the last five people who walked past her as they left that really grabbed her attention.

Lee and Choji were sending her pitying looks as they walked past and they nodded in silent goodbye.

Kankuro looked as though he wanted to say something to her, as he suddenly opened his mouth, but seemed to think better of it at the last moment and shut it again before looking away.

Akamaru was whining sadly, but Kiba kept his eyes averted from her shivering form as he pulled a kunai out of his weapons pouch, and cut Rin loose before giving the stallion a light smack on the rump so he would run back over to his mistress. She'd never be able to get out of these mountains on foot with such a bad injury.

Out of the entire group, Shino was the only one who risked angering the camp leaders by daring to approach her. He carried a large sack over his shoulder, which he dropped down in the snow in front of her. Everyone there blinked twice when they saw this.

"That's three days' worth of food and supplies," he said quietly as he adjusted his dark sunglasses. "Ration it if you can. It'll take longer than that to go back the way we came."

And without another word, he turned away from Hinata and walked along after his friends and the rest of the platoon. All of them, even Gaara, Sasuke, and Shikamaru, would look over their shoulders a number of times as they left to stare back at the girl, but they respected Naruto's orders and marched onward without stopping. Pretty soon, they were all completely out of sight.

As soon as they were all gone, the tears that she had been holding back came spilling forth from her eyes, and Hinata buried her face into her hands and began to bitterly weep as the numb feelings of both worthlessness and pure loneliness washed over her for the first time in ages.

* * *

Hinata wasn't sure how long she stayed there in the snow, crying her heart and soul out. It seemed like only minutes to her, but when she finally looked up again, the sun had not only risen fully into the sky, it was beginning to set in the west. All day long, the Hyuuga heiress had wallowed in her grief, and she was only now beginning to calm down and rationally think again.

"So, finally done crying?"

With a small wipe of the back of her hand against her wet eyes to dry away the last of her tears, Hinata sniffled a bit and looked around. Even though she had been an emotional wreck after being abandoned here by the rest of the troops and had just elected to stay in a small, curled up ball all day while she cried, her three companions had been busy. There was a very small fire crackling in front of her that gave off a tiny bit of additional heat, and in addition to the blanket that she was still huddled up in to preserve her modesty, there was an extra one thrown over her shoulders so as to keep her warm. Rin was lying on the ground directly behind her, trying to curl his body as best as he could around her small form so as to provide a bit of additional warmth. Usagi had pulled out a spare shirt for her to put on from her knapsack, and had even brought over her flak jacket, her ninja shoes, and her Konoha headband as well. The little rabbit spirit was looking up at her with sad eyes as she sat on top of the small, folded up white shirt, silently begging her to put the ninja gear on so as to be even warmer and not be half naked anymore. Kurama meanwhile had gone through the food and supplies that Shino had been kind enough to give her before leaving with the others, and was toasting a bit of meat over the flames. He wasn't looking at the meat, though. He was looking directly at her, and for once, he did not have a scowl or sneer on his furry fox face. He was simply just staring at her.

With a small whimper, Hinata nodded. "Y-Yeah…"

Kurama nodded at her response, and then jerked his head in the direction of Usagi and the bundle of clothes. "Dinner'll be ready in a minute. Get dressed in the meantime. Can't let you freeze to death."

Hinata nodded numbly, but as she tried to move herself out of her stiff, scrunched up ball, she hissed slightly as more pain shot through her abdomen. She hadn't moved from this curled up form all day long, so the reminder of the pain came back ten-fold.

"You okay?"

"I'll… I'll be f-fine… Can you pass me m-my knapsack? I need to r-rewrap my wound…"

Kurama used one of his many tails to toss the small pack toward the blue-haired girl without taking his eyes off the meat he was cooking over the fire. Hinata dug around in the pack for a minute, but as she pulled out an extra roll of bandages, her eyes fell upon her old red scarf. Her heart ached when she saw the simple item, and she had to literally force herself to not start crying again as she closed her bag without taking the scarf out. She could handle the rejection from the rest of the army and perhaps even from her friends, or rather, former friends, but Naruto? His rejection of her real gender hurt the most.

With a small grunt so as to overcome both the stiffness in her joints and the sharp, stinging pains in her lower body, Hinata carefully dropped the blankets that were draped around her and forced herself to stand. Kurama, Rin, and Usagi all politely looked away as she carefully rolled the bandages around her injury and then proceeded to get dressed. When she was finally done, she sat back down in the snow and leaned up against Rin's side as she draped the blankets back around her to keep warm as she huddled up in front of the fire. Usagi quickly hopped forward to join her under the blankets, but Hinata didn't even look down at the friendly little white bunny. She might have physically stopped crying, but she was still an emotional wreck.

Kurama glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he carefully inspected the meat to see if it was fully done cooking. He wanted to be able to hate the stupid girl, because she had been so close to being named the war hero he had tried to mold her into. That would have been his ticket to impressing the Hyuuga clan ancestors, getting his old job back as a clan guardian, and being restored to his former glory. All of his hard work had been for nothing, it seemed, but somehow, he couldn't find it in himself to be angry at her for getting injured and her secret being discovered. It had simply been an accident, and up until now, she had been a good ninja. She hadn't deserved to have been stranded out here by the rest of her fellow shinobi.

Kurama never thought he would actually admit it, but he felt bad for the young Hyuuga heiress.

He sighed at the thought, and then focused his attention back on the bit of meat on his stick. Determining that it was cooked thoroughly, he clasped the end of the stick in his mouth, and then trotted up to Hinata before depositing it in her lap.

"Here, eat," he ordered the shivering girl. "You can't just starve yourself."

Hinata reluctantly nodded. "Okay…" she whimpered softly.

With shaky hands, she picked up the small stick of meat, and nibbled it slowly. She really didn't have much of an appetite, but she knew her fox guardian was right when he said she needed to eat.

As she literally forced herself to swallow the small portion of food that Kurama had been kind enough to prepare for her, she fought the urge to keep on crying, but tiny Usagi and Kurama could tell she was still upset.

"Come on, don't look so down," the fox told her, moving to sit down in a small patch of snow right beside her. "It's not the end of the world, you know…"

Usagi bleated out a small squeak of agreement from her spot in the blankets, and even Rin neighed as he butted his head against Hinata's shoulder in an effort to cheer her up, but Hinata wasn't at all heartened by the encouragement her friends had tried to give her. She just stared with dead eyes at the dancing flames of the fire in front of her.

"What w-was I thinking…? I… I should n-never have left home…" she whispered.

More tears flooded her pretty white eyes, but again, she refused to let them fall. She just stared at the fire in a depressed, mindless daze.

Rin nickered sadly upon sensing his mistress's distress, and Kurama and Usagi exchanged uneasy looks. They couldn't just let Hinata think like this right now.

"Listen, girl—"

"I… I was actually h-happy," Hinata went on, not even fazed at all by the prospect of having interrupted Kurama. "I thought… I thought m-maybe people liked me just for being _me…_ I was actually happy f-for once! But… But they didn't… They didn't l-like _me._ They liked 'H-Hiro…' They p-preferred a fake to the truth. It w-was embarrassing sometimes, pretending to be a g-guy… but I was actually h-happy for once! It was h-hard work, fighting and training with all of them, but… B-But it was fun, too! They didn't c-care that I was shy… or that I w-wasn't perfect… I thought… I thought t-they might actually accept me even with those f-faults… But they don't… No one e-ever will…"

Rin's face drooped, at hearing what his mistress had just said, and tried to lightly whinny at her to get her out of her gloomy state, but Hinata wasn't at all deterred. She just ignored her loyal horse as she buried her face into her hands.

Usagi fixed Kurama with a pointed glare, one that said _'You better snap her out of this mindset now, or you're going to get a piece of me, Mister, and you won't like it!'_ but Kurama didn't even need the bunny to give him a look like that. He was already trying to figure out what he could tell the disheartened princess to get her out of this sorry state.

"Hey, come on. You went to save your father's life. You knew he wouldn't have lasted out here. You did what you had to. Your clan has done its part in the war. You can go home now."

For some reason, his response only made Hinata even more upset, and all three animals heard her muffle a small sob in her hands before moving them away in order to wipe her eyes dry.

"Go home…?" she repeated, sounding more depressed than ever. "I… I'm s-supposed to go home now? I… I'm supposed to j-just go home and explain to everyone that… that I've brought m-more dishonor to them? To the entire clan…? I shamed t-them all! I shamed them all o-over again…!"

Kurama sighed. "You never intended to do that," he insisted. "You didn't mean to shame your father or disgrace your ancestors or lose all your friends. You did it for your family. If you just go back home and explain to your father that you did this for him he'll—"

"I didn't, though…"

That shut Kurama up, and he stared at Hinata in complete surprise. He hadn't expected her to say that.

"I… don't t-think that's the only reason why I did this…" she explained. She paused momentarily to reach over and pick up her father's Leaf headband. She stared at it sadly. "Maybe… Maybe I didn't c-come here just for my father. M-Maybe what I really wanted was… was to p-prove I could do something r-right for once… S-So when I looked in the mirror, I'd see a g-girl who wasn't a failure…"

She held up the headband and stared at her teary reflection in the smooth, shiny metal. She was reminded of the day three months ago after her failed matchmaking session when she was staring at her reflection in the ancestral tablets in her family shrine. That day, she had wiped away half of the make-up on her face so that she was half perfect and beautiful and clearly showed that outwardly she was the ideal heiress, while on the other side she was simply plain and herself. Right now, she had tried to be the simple girl who did her very best, but in the end, it had made no difference. She should have just stuck to trying to be the ideal bride everyone in her family and in her clan had always wanted her to be. The thought rang loudly in her head as hot tears began running down her face again before she started full out sobbing, unable to suppress her grief anymore.

"I was wrong, though! I see nothing!"

She glared at the Konoha forehead protector for another moment before throwing it to the side in both self-hatred and anger as she continued to cry.

There was a brief silence as Usagi snuggled up to her comfortingly, but Hinata just ignored the little rabbit's kindness and continued to cry. Kurama stared down at the forehead protector that had been tossed away into the snow with what could almost be considered a sad expression for the generally arrogant fox. After a moment he seized one end of the cloth wrapping in between his teeth, and dragged it back over to the sobbing young woman. "Bah! That's just because this thing is so old and it's beginning to rust! Give me the end corner of that blanket!"

Without waiting for Hinata to reply, he seized the small end of the blanket with one of his many orange tails, and began rubbing the metal plate carefully until it gleamed in the fading light of dusk. Then Kurama held it up so Hinata could look at herself again in the reflection left behind.

"There, girl! Take a look! You do look pretty!"

The fox smirked at her, expecting her to get annoyed and shove him away or even talk back as she had slowly been learning how to do over the course of the past few months as she gradually gained self-confidence, but Hinata didn't make any acknowledgement that she had so much as heard him. She just turned her head away so that she wouldn't have to look at either him, or her despicable reflection again in the metal of the headband.

Kurama was silent for a time when he realized that nothing he could say would cheer up his human charge right now. Then he glanced down at his own reflection in the metal, and although it was uncharacteristic of him, twinges of guilt were eating away at his heart. He deflated a bit upon realizing that he truly was no better than her, as he was a liar, too. But unlike this girl, who had left home and joined this war for noble and selfless reasons, he had been very selfish. He had all but used the heartbroken girl in front of him for his own self-serving reasons. He supposed she should know the truth about him now. Even if she hated him, it's not like it would make any difference in the long run anymore…

He sighed, and then looked back up at her averted, teary face. "Hinata, the truth is we're both frauds. Your ancestors didn't send me to help you. Hell, they actually hate me," he quietly muttered.

Hinata's head snapped up at what he had just said, and she stared at him in shock. While what he had said about her ancestors not liking him was shocking, what surprised her even more was what he had just called her.

He hadn't just addressed her as 'Woman' or 'Girl.'

He had actually called her by her name, Hinata.

He had called her by her real name for the very first time.

She blinked a bit as this thought settled away in the back of her mind, but then she addressed the more prominent issue.

"W-What do you mean…? Why w-wouldn't my ancestors like you?"

He sighed again, but still looked Hinata right in the eye. She might as well know the truth about him. "Many years ago, generations before you were even born, I used to be a Hyuuga clan guardian, and I was one of the most powerful ones there was. As you probably know by now, I am extremely arrogant, and I do not like people who do not see things my way. I was supposed to guide another young Hyuuga ninja by the name of Hizaki during the First Great Ninja War so that he would earn lots of honor for the Hyuuga clan. You and I may quarrel occasionally, Hinata, but my relationship with Hizaki was much, much worse. We did not get along at all, because he was just as arrogant as I am, and he boasted about glory every chance he had. I finally decided to rid myself of him and purposefully had him killed due to misleading advice during a battle. I figured that an honorable death in battle would still make him a hero in the eyes of the Hyuuga clan, and I would have still done a good job in my role as guardian. Unfortunately, the ancestors were furious at my deed. I was stripped of my rank as a guardian of the family and demoted to simply being the ancestral family awakener, and you see this seal that's on my back?"

He paused for a moment to turn around in place so that Hinata could get another good look at the kanji symbol for the word 'seal' that had been inked into his fur all those years ago.

"I told you back when we first met that it had been applied to simply shrink me down so that I was travel-size for your convenience during the course of the war. That was a lie. While it does make me much smaller than my true form, it was put on me as a punishment for what I did. It binds down my powers so that I can just barely use them, and instead of looking like my frightening original self, I am doomed to serve out the rest of my days in this chibi form until I manage to 'prove my worth' to the Hyuuga clan."

Hinata stared at him without moving as she absorbed all this. Her face didn't betray even the slightest hint as to what she could be thinking now after hearing this, so Kurama just went on.

"When… When the ancestors learned of what you had done by disguising yourself as a boy in order to take your father's place in the army, I was given the task of waking up your real guardian, but I accidentally destroyed him. Like I said, that had been an accident, but afterwards… I saw it as an opportunity. An opportunity to 'prove my worth' to everyone and finally get my old powers and job back by turning you into a war hero… You risked your life to help people you love. I risked your life to help myself. At least you had good intentions…"

For a long time after this, Hinata didn't speak. She just stared down at the fox while seemingly deep in thought.

"You can hate me if you want. You can even scream," Kurama offered.

Hinata still said nothing.

"I wouldn't blame you if you never wish to see me again. I all but used you for my own self-gain. I understand if you're—"

He was cut off by Hinata suddenly reaching forward, and hugging him tightly to her chest.

For once, Kurama didn't try to struggle out of her grip. He was far too stunned by her affection at this moment to do anything. "What… What are you doing, Girl?" he said slowly.

Hinata dried away her tears with a brush of her finger, and then hugged him even tighter against her before speaking softly. "I could never h-hate you, Kurama. You may not… You may n-not have been nice at times, but you have always been my friend. You're the best guardian ever, in m-my opinion. I don't… I don't care about w-what you may have done before in… in the p-past. What really matters is h-how you act now. You took g-good care of me during… during training, and you always gave me g-good advice. I'm thankful to h-have you here with me… all of you, in f-fact!" she added at the last moment, setting the orange fox down on her lap for a second, so as to gently pat Rin's neck behind her with one hand and to let Usagi climb up onto the palm of her other while a somewhat bright smile spread across her lips. "You're all the b-best I could have ever asked for…"

She was still upset about her true gender being discovered and being kicked out of the Allied Shinobi Forces by the man she had fallen in love with, but after saying all this, the young Hyuuga princess was indeed feeling a bit better now.

Rin neighed in obvious delight from the gentle pats to his mane as Usagi squeaked happily from the recognition her mistress had been kind enough to give her.

Hinata giggled lightly upon viewing the happiness of her fellow animals, and then a bittersweet smile spread across her face as she sadly sighed and looked away.

"I… I suppose I'll h-have to face my father and the clan elders sooner or later," she whispered. "Let's go home…"

Kurama sighed at the suggestion, but he nodded nonetheless. "Yeah, you're right… But I warn you, Woman, this won't end well…"

"I know…"

Kurama saw the frown starting to stretch across Hinata's face again, and he quickly jumped up onto Hinata's shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey! No frowning, now! We're in this together, remember!"

"W-We are…?" Hinata asked, genuinely surprised to hear such a remark.

"Damn, Woman! We've been through thick and thin together for the past few months! We started this thing together, and that's exactly how we'll finish it!"

Another smile spread again across Hinata's face, and she hugged her little fox guardian tightly. Even if she ended up being sealed with the seal of servitude of the branch family, officially stripped of her rank of clan heiress, and forever banished from the clan when she went back home, knowing that there was still one being on her side gave her so much comfort.

Kurama rolled his eyes at the additional hug, but he let it go. Should she try to hug him again after this, he would for sure be biting off fingers, though! "I promise…"

Tiny Usagi and Rin both neighed and bleated happily in agreement, and Hinata's smile only grew. "Thank you, to all of you…"

* * *

Not too far away, a certain snake summoning was oblivious to what was currently happening between the Hyuuga heiress and her fellow animal companions. The slithering reptile had its own agenda at the moment. After the avalanche had unfortunately swept it away from its master, the evil Orochimaru, the snake had spent hours slithering its way out of the great tons of snow that it had been deeply buried down in. It had taken it all night, and over half of the day, to break through all the snow and ice, but at long last, it was finally at the surface of all the leftover piles from the wintry landslide. Now that it was free, the snake was trying to find either Orochimaru, its summoner and master, or Kabuto or another member of the Sound Four, his five generals.

Orochimaru wasn't a kind master to the small snake. In fact, he could be downright cruel at times, so the snake had no experience whatsoever with the human emotions of love or affection. Its only experiences in the human world all had to do with ninja warfare and trying to gain the rough approval of its summoner. But still, Orochimaru had signed the contract to summon snakes in his own blood many years ago, and therefore all snakes he summoned to help him in battle were loyal to a fault, and this snake was no exception to this rule. The snake continued its journey across the snowy ground, hissing loudly for any sign of its summoner.

But all was quiet among the snow drifts. There was no sign of life anywhere. The snake was just starting to consider perhaps giving up its fruitless search by returning back to the summoning world and telling the other snakes at the Ryuuchi Cave that their latest summoner and master had unfortunately met his ultimate demise in battle, when a lone, pale gray hand quite suddenly punched out through a loose patch of snow. The fist was covered in a great veil of dark purple chakra so as to enhance the punch.

The snake hissed in what could almost be considered delight, and it quickly slithered as fast as it could through the snowy terrain to reunite with its summoner.

Orochimaru growled as he struggled to haul himself out from the heavy tons of snow that he had literally been buried alive in. When he was finally freed from the icy cold prison of death, he fell down onto his hands and knees as he panted heavily, breathing in lungful after lungful of the crisp mountain air from all the hard work and exertion it had taken him to forcibly climb his way out. It had taken him almost a full twenty-four hours to break free from all the snow and ice, if not possibly longer. He remembered that after the snow had descended down upon him, he had blacked out. For how long, he wasn't quite sure. All he knew was that as soon as he had come to, he was astounded by the fact that he had actually survived the crushing weight of the great barreling snow drifts at almost below freezing temperatures.

When he was at last revived enough to stop panting as hard as he was, the snake traitor's head snapped from side-to-side as he took a good look around at his surroundings, and his piercing yellow eyes narrowed in complete disbelief. His great and powerful army of Sound shinobi. Gone. All gone. They were all haphazardly buried in the snow all around him, with numerous arms or legs sticking out in places, occasionally beside the crumpled remains of broken kunais or shuriken. Unlike him, they had not survived the avalanche. They were all forever stuck in an everlasting, frozen sleep.

Fury coursed throughout every fiber of Orochimaru's being. They had been so close! So close to victory! But his plans to crush all the ninjas in the Allied Shinobi Forces had failed, and it was all thanks to the meddling of one seemingly insignificant Hyuuga ninja.

Orochimaru couldn't stop himself. He roared out loudly in complete rage.

* * *

Hinata and her friends were busy packing up their supplies so they could begin the long journey home. It wasn't hard to put out the small fire. A good rush of water from the one water jutsu Hinata knew cleared it all away within seconds. The young heiress was just repacking her knapsack and preparing to climb up onto Rin's back when the sudden loud scream echoed throughout the expanse of the mountains.

"What the fuck?!" Kurama shouted, clearly startled by the suddenness of the seemingly random scream. "What… What was _that…?!"_

Usagi agreed with him, and began hopping up and down as she bleated rather fearfully.

Hinata didn't say anything in reply. She had all but frozen up for a moment when she heard the frightening yell as shivers of fear ran down her spine. Rin was lightly whinnying in fear himself, but Hinata quickly stroked his neck to calm him down and keep him quiet. She didn't know exactly what was going on or who had made such a horrible, angry yell, but a very bad feeling was sweeping over her.

With a quick flick of her hand to silently tell her stallion to stay where he was, Hinata hurried forward to see just what was going on.

* * *

Orochimaru's bellowing angry yell wasn't heard only by Hinata. Elsewhere throughout the avalanche, the very few Sound shinobi that had also managed to miraculously survive the onslaught of snow were slowly waking up from their cold slumbers, and were fighting to dig themselves out from their snowy funeral beds to join back up with their all-powerful leader.

Kabuto was the first one to awaken. After the tumbling snow had finally settled down once the avalanche had ended, he had landed in a small snow drift right against a rocky side of the mountain. His glasses were slightly cracked on one side, but they were still usable. He kicked the body of a dead Sound shinobi out of his way as he slowly got to his feet, and hopped down from the snowy hill he was on top of. He chuckled slightly as he ran a hand through his silver ponytail.

He soon spotted the conjoined twins Sakon and Ukon along with their fellow Sound Four member Tayuya, all working together to climb back over a particularly large snowy pile, and waved them over. The twins and the red-haired man all grinned when they saw their fellow comrade was alive, and headed over to him. Upon a quick glance over on all sides to see if they were all okay, they trekked forward together past the bodies of their dead, and therefore useless, fellow Sounds ninjas to hopefully find other strong survivors and their infamous leader.

It wasn't long before they discovered the last two members of the Sound Four, Jirobo and Kidomaru. Just like with the first three, Jirobo and Kidomaru had both landed near each other after the snowy landslide, and they were still in the process of literally dragging themselves out of snow that had nearly frozen over into completely solid ice. The oversized orange-haired man and the ninja with many arms on his body were both covered in cuts and scrapes, but overall, neither of them had any life threatening or severe injuries. They could both still stand and, if need be, fight. When they spied their fellow Sound Generals approaching them, they couldn't help but smirk a bit. They were all still alive. This was just too perfect.

All five of the Generals took a few precious seconds to pause momentarily as they gathered up the fallen kunais and other weapons that were discarded in the snow around their dead comrades. They were going to need them, and it wasn't like the dead men in the snow would be using them anytime in the near future. They had better uses for them anyway than simply allowing them to rust away in the snow beside all the bodies of the frozen corpses.

When they were done, they made their way to Orochimaru. The Konoha traitor was glaring down at the bright glowing lights of the Imperial City far down below in the distance. As powerful as he was, even he knew that he could not kill the Hokage and the other Kage leaders. Not alone, at least, which is why he turned to face the five fellow survivors with an eerie smirk on his face. He generally wasn't the type to be grateful toward anyone, but in this instance, he was definitely grateful to the gods that they had smiled down on him by keeping his five most powerful and well-trusted Sound ninjas alive.

Together, they could do it.

They could kill his old sensei Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sarutobi's family, and the other Kage's and their families, too.

They could conquer the city.

Because if they conquered the city, they conquered all of Japan.

His snake summoning slithered up to him in the snow, and Orochimaru grinned at the five men gathering before him as his scaly friend climbed its way up his body to its usual perch of draping itself around his shoulders.

"We shall have our revenge for what the Allied Shinobi Forces did to us," he declared. "We shall take the city!"

All five men whooped and cheered in agreement, and then followed the snake summoner as he led the way through the snow down the mountain.

There were only six of them left, but that didn't matter.

There would still be more blood spilled by the end of today.

Blood belonging to every last one of the Kage royals in the city down below.

* * *

Hinata gasped in horror as she watched the six evil survivors make their way down the mountain toward the Imperial City. She was completely panicked for a moment and numb with astonishment from the fact that they had all somehow managed to survive the avalanche she had unleashed upon them. It seemed as though the rumors whispered among the citizens throughout Japan about the snake traitor were true. Orochimaru really was as slick as a snake when slipping his way out of dangerous situations, even ones that would have killed any other normal human being.

For a long moment, Hinata stared down in complete shock from her hiding place on an upper cliff of the mountain as she watched the small band of Sound ninjas make their way down toward the defenseless city. Because there were only six survivors, they could easily blend in with the crowd. The ninjas that were guarding the walls of the Imperial City were expecting an army to come charging down toward them, not six slippery ninjas. The city was not prepared for this particular type of attack, especially once Naruto and the rest of the troops in the Allied Shinobi Forces informed everyone that the last members of the Sound army had been defeated.

In the entire country of Japan, she was the only person who knew that Orochimaru and his five Generals were still alive.

She couldn't go back home just yet.

It was up to her to do something!

Within seconds, Hinata was back up on her feet. She ignored the stinging pain in her stomach as she scooped up the surprised Usagi and Kurama, and stuffed the small rabbit into one of the pockets of her flak jacket before plopping her guardian onto her shoulder. She rushed forward, snatched up the tri-pronged kunai Naruto had thrown before her in the snow, and hurried to gather up the rest of her supplies before swinging herself fully up onto Rin.

Kurama blinked at the misfit heiress when he saw her turn the snow white stallion around to ride down in the direction of the city rather than back up the mountain. "Woman! Just what the hell are you doing?! Home is _that_ way!" he growled, pointing one of his many tails in the exact opposite direction to the one she was preparing to ride in.

Hinata just stared at the small orange fox guardian on her shoulder in disbelief that he wanted her to ignore this. She vaguely waved her hand in the direction of the far away city. "The city is in danger, Kurama! They… They don't know that Orochimaru and his men are still alive… I have to do something!"

Kurama was surprised that Hinata hadn't stuttered at all when she said this, but he still fixed her with a pointed look. "First of all, you are in no condition to be riding at such a speed that will let you get there in time to warn anyone, and did you see those ninjas?!" he demanded. "They practically popped out of the snow! Like _daisies!"_

But Hinata was not deterred. She generally shied away from all types of confrontation, but not this time. Not about this. She gave Kurama a pointed look of her own. "I am well aware that I am still injured, Kurama, but if I do nothing… a lot of people are going to die…"

She paused for a moment to look back out at the Imperial City, and then looked pleadingly back at her fox friend still resting on her shoulder. "I… I can't do this alone, though, Kurama. Are we in this together, or not…?" she asked desperately.

There was a moment of silence when Kurama's own promise was deflected back at him, and even Usagi popped her tiny head out from the pocket of Hinata's flak jacket to gaze at him desperately. Then a haughty smirk spread across the arrogant fox's furry face.

"I have never once been the type to turn away from a fight! Let's go kick some Sound ninja ass!"

Hinata giggled a bit at his display of enthusiasm, and then kicked her heels sharply into Rin's sides, and within seconds, they were all charging down the snowy path of the mountainside at top speed.

Hinata's lower abdomen ached terribly with every movement her trusty stallion made as he pounded his hooves into the snowy terrain, but she chose to grit her teeth and ignore the sharp, stabbing pains. It didn't matter if her wound broke open again during this ride. Those Sound ninjas would reach the city by nightfall. She had to try and beat them there in order to warn—

Her thoughts paused at that as she continued to ride down the mountain. She had to warn people that the war still wasn't over since Orochimaru was still alive, but who would believe her?

The Imperial City ninjas?

They would all write her off as a silly girl who didn't know her place in life of simply being seen and not heard.

Her friends in the Allied Shinobi Forces?

Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro had been some of the ones most hurt by her deception. She honestly didn't know if they would believe her, considering she'd hidden her secret from them.

The Co-Captains in the army and the leading Tactician?

Hinata honestly had no idea what Gaara, Sasuke, or Shikamaru truly thought of her. She had never been particularly that close to them during training, at least not the way she was with her other five friends. She had no idea if they would believe her.

That left only one person.

 _Naruto._

The one person who might possibly believe her about the approaching threat was the same man she had fallen in love with over the course of the past few months, and was also the one person who was the most betrayed by her lies. She couldn't blame him for being angry at her, considering she knew now that he had been planning to look for her after the war was over, the girl he had given his scarf to so many years ago. But still… even if he never forgave her for her treasonous deception, maybe he would still listen to reason. He was the Captain of the Allied Shinobi Forces. If she could somehow manage to convince him that Orochimaru and his five Generals were still alive, there might still be a chance to save the Four Kages, the Mizukage Regent, and all the members of the Honorable Families.

There was no time to waste. She had to hurry!

She urged Rin to gallop harder and faster, and whispered for the final rays of dusk to hear, "Gods and spirits above… please let Naruto believe me!"


	8. The Sound Strikes Back

**I woke up early to post this, and I'm in a little bit of an early morning daze. If this AU note seems strange in any way, it's probably because of that.**

 **I know it's only been a few days since I posted the last chapter, but because of the few days worth of delay while I was waiting for Silken Danser to reply to my PM's to ask if she was done critiquing, I was busy writing the next chapter. This chapter, and voila! It's done early! You all get two chapters only a few days apart! I hope you all like it!**

 **I wanted to write the epic climatic battle in this chapter, but I realized early on that this chapter would have been way too long if I included that in this chapter. I can assure you all though, that that battle will take place in the next chapter. Endure with me a little longer, and you will all finally get to read all about how Hinata officially becomes the world's first kunoichi and proves to the entire country of Japan that a girl can be more than just a pretty face! Stay tuned!**

 **My favorite part of this chapter to write was the last little bit with Orochimaru. We finally get the chance to take a peek at some other Narutoverse characters that unfortunately had to be brushed aside for awhile simply because they couldn't fit into the main story. It was fun writing about all of them, and I hope you all like it, too! :)**

 **This chapter is currently unbetaed. Silken Danser just has a small chunk left to finish critiquing for the other chapters and then I can send her this one to review afterwards. Rest assured, the other chapters will be fixed soon! Please be patient with all the typos!**

 **Despite how horrible the last chapter was, I still managed to score 20 reviews! Not bad! Not bad at all! ;) It's everyone's favorite time again! It's time to thank all those wonderful reviewers:**

 **\- Cloud4012**

 **\- blukmage19r2**

 **\- reviewer**

 **\- acw28**

 **\- rk-tronix**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- luzhikari**

 **\- loveawkwardness**

 **\- NH SHIPPER**

 **\- Guest (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- eniox27**

 **\- qyu**

 **\- Kakau**

 **\- hinataellis**

 **\- Ramrikai**

 **\- animelover72636 (x2)**

 **\- ForsakenMythr2012**

 **\- Hime-Love-97**

 **\- gio08**

 **As always, your reviews mean the world to me! I hope you will all continue to leave even more wonderful reviews for any future chapters that might be written! Thank you all so much!**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Please remember to review once you're done reading. Remember, everyone, reviews fuel my creative juices! If you all want more chapters posted on a weekly basis, please help me stay motivated by leaving more wonderful reviews!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 6/13/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight: The Sound Strikes Back**

Traditional Japanese music played loudly throughout the streets of the Imperial City, and citizens of all ages lined the roads as they watched the spectacular parade that had been thrown together upon learning that the Allied Shinobi Forces had defeated the last of the Sound ninjas and had successfully won the war. The entire city wanted to celebrate upon learning this joyous news. Spirit companions wandered the streets alongside their masters or mistresses, street performers were dressed up in elaborate and colorful costumes, dancers twirled around gracefully as ribbons in their hands swirled around their heads, musicians blared out merry melodies on sets of drums and trumpets, men on stilts in the parade tossed around great handfuls of colorful confetti across the street and over the heads of the people in the crowd, and high overhead, beautiful and elaborate kites soared in the dark, nighttime sky, being flown by young and cheerful children whose parents had splurged on them due to the happiness of the occasion.

The crowds continued to clap and cheer harder than ever as they watched the parade go by. This would be a day that would go down in history. Not only was it the end of the war, but it was also the day that would be known as the day that Orochimaru had died. The greatest traitor to have ever come from the Land of Fire was finally gone. The rest of the country could rest much easier now that they knew that he would never be able to wage war upon them ever again.

As the parade marched on, the last members of the Allied Shinobi Forces took up the rear, followed closely behind by a large red parade dragon being operated by a number of other street performers. When the crowds finally caught a glimpse of their heroes, the man leading them down the street, a Kiri ninja judging by his forehead protector, called out loudly over the din of the crowd so that everyone could hear him, "Make way for the heroes of Japan! Captain Naruto Namikaze and the ninjas of the Allied Shinobi Forces!"

The crowd went wild upon finally seeing the troops, and they screamed and cheered their praises at the top of their lungs.

Kakashi and Ebisu were the ones in the lead, as they were the veteran ninjas. Ebisu thrived under the attention, and happily waved to the adoring crowd from atop his shinobi stallion as they all leisurely walked down the streets toward the Imperial Palace. Kakashi had to keep up a pretense of being proud of the defeat of the Sound army too, and waved briefly to the crowd, but if one were to pull down his blue cloth face mask, everyone would see that his face actually looked very similar to the faces of the majority of the men following behind the two of them as they continued through the city.

The regular ninjas in the squad filed after the army leaders in a long, single file line. None of them were joining in on the celebrations. They all had matching solemn, depressed expressions. Five ninjas in particular looked really upset. Kiba and his dog Akamaru, Lee, Kankuro, Shino, and Choji just kept looking down firmly at their feet as they walked through the city. As Kankuro was the Kazekage's eldest son, he was carrying a flag over his shoulder with the Imperial Crest of the newly formed Japan, but not even he was looking around at the people in the city he had all but grown up in after the country had been unified. They all hated the fact that they had left Hinata behind in the mountains, but they were especially ashamed of themselves since none of them had been brave enough to stand up to Naruto and demand that they at least allow her to travel with them until they were safely out of the mountains. A woman or not, Hinata Hyuuga was still a hero. She was the one who should be soaking up this praise, not them.

As the leading strategist in the army and the two leaders next in command after Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke, and Shikamaru all rode ahead of the rest of the men on their own horses, only a few inches directly behind the blonde Captain. Unlike Gaara and Sasuke, Shikamaru had no qualms with what had been discovered that morning, and although he had definitely been shocked when the true gender of the Hyuuga representative had been exposed, he had only been slightly angry at Hinata. He hadn't been as mad as the rest of his friends. Gaara and Sasuke had calmed down from their anger over Hinata's deceit not long after they had all left her stranded in the snow on top of the mountain. It wasn't right what she had done, breaking the law in order to take her father's place in the army, but neither of them believed that Naruto's decision to simply leave her up there had been okay. All three of them had tried many times all day long to try and talk to Naruto to find out what he could have possibly been thinking by doing that, but Naruto would not answer them. They all exchanged worried looks as they traveled down the streets of the city.

Throughout the entire journey down the rest of the mountain, Naruto had been absolutely silent. At first, it was simply because he was still angry at finding out the truth about Hinata, and not to mention embarrassed for having been comfortable enough around 'Hiro' to tell 'him' private things about his past, from the prejudice he was currently facing due to being part Uzumaki to the fact that he had been planning to find the Hyuuga girl he had saved back when he was kid. That anger had mostly faded away by now, and instead, Naruto was filled with a different emotion: guilt.

He felt so guilty for what he had done to Hinata, leaving her out there alone in the snow. Even though he had been upset with her treasonous lie, it was still no excuse for what he had done to her. She had been healing from a sword stroke to the stomach. He knew he had spotted Shino drop her a few days' worth of supplies before leaving, but even with that little bit of extra food, there was no way that would last her long enough to get out of the mountains. She would have to ride that horse of hers to make it out in time to find another village and get more provisions, but with her injury as bad as it was, it was dangerous for her to ride. He wouldn't be surprised if she ended up freezing or bleeding to death out there. While he did not strike her with his father's kunai, her death was still on his hands.

Naruto fought back a sad sigh when he heard many of the people in the city chant out his name. He was happy to be home again, but he couldn't even focus on the people around him. He was too caught up in his thoughts. Those in the crowd that recognized him as the Namikaze heir immediately assumed that the reason why he seemed so quiet was because of the deaths of his father and Jiraiya, but they couldn't have been more wrong. His only thought right now was of Hinata. He should not have left her out there, that's all there was to it. She should be the one who the people were dubbing a hero, not him. She was the one who had saved all of Japan by setting off that avalanche, but her heroic deeds and glory were being given to him and the rest of the troops even though they had done nothing but stand off on the sidelines and watched.

Even if she ended up somehow surviving out there in the mountains and managed to get home, he would never see her again. He would never be able to amend his horrible, anger-fueled mistake…

Or at least, that was what he thought.

Hinata burst out from the crowd while still riding Rin, and nearly knocked some pedestrians down to the ground when she struggled to get her stallion to slow down so she could try and search frantically for the spiky-haired blonde in the parade. It had taken her hours of nonstop riding at top speed to get here so quickly and catch up to the rest of the army, who had come down here at a presumably slow speed since they too had only just arrived. Her stomach was throbbing in agony because of her fast ride, a ride that she should not have made while in her condition, but that made no difference to the young heiress whatsoever.

She was just one girl.

An all together rather unimportant girl in the grand scheme of life.

She needed the help of Naruto and the rest of her former ninja comrades if there was to be any hope at all in saving the lives of the Four Kage's, the Mizukage Regent, and all the members of the Honorable Families.

It took her a few moments, but she soon spotted her favorite orange-wearing shinobi on his horse in the parade, and she kicked her heels hard into Rin's sides to get him to start moving again so she could catch up to him.

"Naruto!" she shouted over the roar of the crowd as she rode up, ignoring the startled looks from both the civilians around her and the Imperial ninjas who were supposed to be keeping the street clear so that the parade could go on toward the palace without a hitch.

Many of the men in the line jumped when they heard the familiar voice of their former female comrade, but Hinata ignored all of their surprised looks as she rode directly up to Naruto. Naruto had nearly fallen off his horse when he heard Hinata's voice, and he turned slightly in his saddle just in time to see her and Rin racing up the line of men to catch up to him.

He was astounded to see her again. He couldn't believe she was here. How the hell had she managed to ride so fast all the way down the mountain with her injury as bad as it was? As she slowed her stallion down so as to trot at the same pace as Naruto's horse, he spared a quick look down at her stomach. There was a small tinge of blood on her flak jacket. She might be trying to suppress her pain right now, but blood was definitely starting to seep through her bandages again, and she and her horse were both panting hard from exhaustion and were covered in thick layers of sweat. They must have been riding hard nonstop for awhile now in order to catch up with them. But why? Why hadn't she gone home?

"Hinata…?" he said slowly, unable to stop himself from blinking in surprise.

He wasn't the only man there that was shocked to see her. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Gaara, Sasuke, and Shikamaru all staring at her with wide eyes as she approached , and he definitely could overhear the somewhat muffled choked gasps from Hinata's friends as she rode past them in order to get to him. There were other quiet mutterings from the rest of the men in line, too. The only men in the Allied Shinobi Forces that hadn't seemed to realize that she had shown up were Kakashi and Ebisu, who were leading the procession and therefore were looking straight ahead rather than over their shoulders, so they hadn't seen her.

Hinata ignored the rest of the men, though. As much as she wanted to apologize all over again to her five good friends, the two Co-Captains, and the leading Tactician for all deceiving them for so long, she didn't have any time to waste. Naruto had to know what she knew about the invading Sound ninjas. She started sputtering out fast, nervous words while at the same time internally praying to every god and spirit she knew of that Naruto would believe her warning.

"Naruto… Orochimaru and his Generals… they survived! They're in the city!" she gasped out between deep, panting breaths for air.

Naruto stared at her for half a second after she told him this, not really absorbing it, but then an ugly scowl spread across his face. The guilt he had been feeling only a few minutes ago quickly vanished as the same rage he had felt back when he had discovered the truth about 'Hiro' on the mountain that morning fueled him once again. This was just another lie. Another lie to try and get back in with the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces. He had already been hurt and betrayed by this girl before. He would not make the same mistake twice. Despite what most of his friends thought, he was not an idiot. He did possess some amount of common sense, and his common sense was currently telling him to tell Hinata to shove it.

He glared hatefully at her. "You don't belong here, Hinata! Go home! Go home before the Closet Pervert sees you!"

Everyone in the platoon that was in the nearby vicinity stared in disbelief at the angry blonde for how he had so rudely dismissed the Hyuuga heiress. They all knew he was still mad, but none of them thought he had it in him to be so mean before.

For a moment, Hinata stared on helplessly as Naruto urged his horse onwards to pick up the pace so he could move past her. He was ignoring her warning. The thought that he was going to let the royals perish just because he was still angry with her was echoing about in her head. If she had still been the same girl she was when she first left home several months ago to take her father's place in the war, she probably would have just frowned sadly and then quietly urged Rin to get out of the way of the parade, but that was then. She was not that same girl anymore. If there was one thing being in the army had taught her, it was confidence. Confidence in herself. She had not ridden all the way down that snow capped mountain with such a terribly painful injury just to be ignored like this! She was confident she could get Naruto to believe her!

A determined look spread across the young Hyuuga princess's face as she kicked her heels back into Rin's sides again, and quickly trotted forward so as to be on Naruto's other side. She couldn't just give up. She had to keep trying!

"Naruto, please! I… I saw them in the mountains! They're c-coming! They're going to… They're going to kill the Kage's and the Honorable Families! You have to believe me!" she desperately insisted. Didn't Naruto understand that this wasn't a game? People's lives were at stake! Why couldn't he put aside his grudge against her and listen to what she was saying?!

Naruto's generally bright blue eyes turned as cold as ice as he glared even harder than ever back at her. _"Why?!"_ he snapped. "Why should I?!"

Hinata initially flinched back a bit from the harsh words he had all but spat at her, but then a harsh glare of her own spread across her face. She was not going to be treated second rate by Naruto, no matter what he thought of her. Even if he never spoke to her again after tonight, she had to get him to listen to her. This was about more than just him or her. This was about the fate of the entire country! She ordered Rin to trot forwards and completely halted the parade when she cut Naruto off momentarily from riding on. Naruto's horse was forced to stop so as to not run into Hinata or Rin, and Naruto and Hinata locked eyes once again.

Hinata ignored the confused looks from the rest of the crowd and the surprised looks from the rest of the men in the platoon as she fixed the man she dearly loved with all of her heart with a pointed look. "Why else would I have come back?" she countered. "I… I all but dashed down that m-mountain with a sliced open stomach to tell you this… even though you really _should_ be executing me."

Naruto's lips pressed together into a tight line as he momentarily looked away. When he turned his attention back to her, he tried to say something back, but Hinata quickly cut him off, only this time, her words were softer and more hesitant, and everyone who heard her small whisper could hear the hurt tone echoing within them.

"You… You said you trusted _Hiro…_ Why is _Hinata_ any different…?"

There was a tense silence at that, as Naruto didn't reply right away. But when he did, his words were filled with absolute venom. "I thought I knew Hiro… I don't know _Hinata!_ How can I trust you?!"

He started to urge his horse onwards so as to move around her, but then Hinata said something else. Something he really hadn't been expecting.

"Would you h-have trusted the little girl you gave your scarf to?"

Those that had heard her stared at her quizzically, not understanding what she was talking about, but Naruto completely tensed up upon hearing those words. He didn't want to think about that. The little girl from his memories was someone he had cared about his whole life, and he had intended to search for her after the war was over, but now that he knew that that little girl and the lying Hinata were the same person… he didn't want to think about her anymore. She was a liar. There was nothing worse in this world than liars…

With one last small growl so as to lock away his personal feelings, the Namikaze heir shot the Hyuuga heiress one last annoyed look before firmly kicking his heels into his horse and shoving his way past her. He did not once look back at her. No more of this. He would not be tricked by her lies again. He just had to ignore her and pretend that he didn't notice the feelings of sadness and regret welling up inside of him. He would get over this soon. There would always be other girls. He could do it. He could force himself to forget her…

Hinata watched him as he forced his way past her, hurt beyond all belief as she fought hard against the stinging sensation that was welling up in her eyes. She would not cry right now. For one, she didn't want to seem weak to everyone, but more importantly, even though Naruto refused to listen to her, she still had to do something to try and save the lives of the Kage's and the Honorable Families, so there was no time to waste on crying out her feelings.

She looked over at the rest of the men in the platoon, hoping that maybe one of them might help her. Gaara and Sasuke were pointedly ignoring her, as they too were just as angry as Naruto was at her tricking everyone. Shikamaru looked as though he was completely befuddled by her warning, but not enough to try and help her out. Kiba, Kankuro, Shino, Choji, and Lee, meanwhile, were shooting her quick looks out of the corners of their eyes as they walked past her. They all looked concerned at what she had said about Orochimaru and his leading Generals having all survived the avalanche, but none of them were bold enough to step forward and offer to help her try to find and stop them. They were just as hurt as Naruto was at her deception. They weren't sure if they would ever talk to her again.

Hinata frowned when she realized that no one in the army was going to listen to her, but she couldn't stop herself from saying one last thing.

"Keep your eyes open," she told them all. "I… I know they're here…"

"Hey, you! Hyuuga girl!"

Hinata jumped a bit from her seat on her horse and spun around to look over her shoulder. One of the Imperial City ninjas was shoving his way through the crowds on the side of the street to march his way up to her. He actively glared at her once he was right beside her. "Get out of the street! You're blocking the parade! Don't you know your place in life?!"

Hinata flinched backward. She didn't like the way he spoken to her, as though she was nothing more than a second rate citizen, but she nonetheless nodded, and steered Rin off to the side of the road so that everyone else could continue on down the street. She wanted desperately to say something back to that ninja for treating her as though she was no better than a mound of dirt, but she knew that this was not the time to get into a verbal spat, not when she could very well be the only person in all of Japan that could do something to stop the last remaining members of the Sound army.

Rin, however, didn't care about this fact. He would not let anyone get away with treating his wonderful mistress so poorly. He snorted furiously in the ninja's direction as they passed by, and the ninja took a wary step backward from the angry horse. As soon as they were out of sight of the ninja and were riding off in the direction of the city's public stables, Hinata giggled, and gently patted his neck.

"Thank you, Rin. You… You're always so loyal…"

Rin neighed happily in reply as they approached the Imperial boarding stalls for city visitors with horses. Hinata quickly hopped off her stallion's back, collected her knapsack and the last of her money from her saddle bags, and approached the man who was in charge of the stables.

"How much for one night's worth of taking care of my horse and boarding him here?" she asked.

"Two thousand yen," replied the owner, not even paying attention to the girl in front of him as he was more focused on the parade passing by.

Hinata's pearlescent eyes all but bulged out of her head. "T-Two thousand yen?! That's… That's all but robbery!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, prices are up because of the occasion," said the owner with an annoyed eye roll. "Take it or leave, Girl, but know this, this is probably the cheapest offer you'll get. Unless you're willing to risk tying your horse up to a hitch post overnight and having a thief snatch him up, I assume you will accept my offer."

Hinata frowned, but opened up her small drawstring purse to take out the money, which she all but slapped down into the stable master's greedy, grubby hands. The man smirked at her as she patted Rin's neck in farewell.

"Don't worry, Rin… I… I p-promise I'll be back soon…"

Rin whinnied sadly as the stable master led him away, but nonetheless respected his mistress's wishes as she rushed back out into the crowd on foot. He knew that although he wanted to stay with his mistress, he would only be in her way right now. It was better if he took a long needed rest and let her do what she had to in order to try and stop Orochimaru.

She did her best to dash as fast as she could through the mob of citizens to reach the large, crowded square in front of the Imperial Palace. That was where the army and the great big festival dragon were all walking towards so they could finally speak with the Kage's and see the Honorable Families up close and officially announce the end of the war. As she shoved her way through the crowd, Kurama and Usagi both hopped out of her knapsack. Usagi tucked herself away into one of the many pockets of her green flak jacket while Kurama made himself nice and cozy atop her left shoulder. There were so many people in costumes and spirit companions wandering the streets that he blended right in with the crowd, so there was really no point in him hiding, and since it was so loud, no one took any notice of the nine-tailed, orange fox when he spoke.

"Now where are you going?!" he demanded as Hinata ran through the archway leading up to the square in front of the palace that was jam packed with hundreds of citizens from all over the country.

Hinata just spared her fox guardian a quick look before focusing all her attention back on the bodies of Naruto and the rest of the troops, who by now were climbing up the steps to the palace, where the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent were waiting for them. "To find someone who will believe me!"

Her feet pounded down across the brick pavement of the street as she shoved her way through the crowd, trying to get as close as she could to the royal palace. When she spied an Imperial City ninja manning the unseen wall between the general population and the long line of men in the Allied Shinobi Forces climbing up the seemingly never ending flights of stairs, she dashed directly up to him with a desperate look on her face.

"Sir! Sir, the Kage's and the H-Honorable Families are in danger!"

The ninja stared at her for a moment, and then he started laughing right in her face.

"Ha! That's rich! Who are they in danger from, huh? The Great and Powerful Snake Traitor? He's dead, girl!"

He continued to laugh mockingly at her as he forcefully shoved her away from him and back into the massive throng of people.

Hinata winced for a moment as her stomach twisted the wrong way, but she was mostly able to ignore the pain. She was quite insulted by his mocking laughter, but couldn't resist trying again.

"But sir! The Sound shinobi _are_ here…!"

It was no use, though. Not only was her voice lost in the din of cheering people in the crowd, but the ninja had already turned away from her to gaze up at the top of the stone steps in front of him to watch the historical event unfold.

Hinata bit her lip, but jostled several other pedestrians out of her way as she tried to approach a different ninja. "Sir! P-Please, I… I need your help—"

"Shut up, Woman! Can't you see that it's about to start?"

He roughly shoved her away from him with a sneer before also focusing his attention at the top of the stairs like that other ninja had done before him. Hinata literally had to bite down hard on her tongue to suppress a particularly loud yelp of pain when his hands accidentally pressed down on her injury.

Hinata's heart broke at being so rudely dismissed and brushed aside by everyone. They all seemed to think that just because she was a woman, she was useless and mad! It truly showed what the difference was between the two genders. If she were still 'Hiro' not only would these men have listened to her desperate pleas for help, Naruto in particular would have heard her out. Why was it that women were always brushed aside? Why did all men seem to think that women were so inferior?!

"No one will listen…" she whispered dejectedly to her fox guardian.

Kurama huffed. "What did you expect, Woman? Remember, you _are_ a girl again. You're best chance at finding any help right now is by using that Transformation Jutsu you learned during training to turn yourself back into a boy and then explain yourself to the ninjas on watch."

But Hinata only shook her head at that suggestion. "Lying and pretending to be a boy is the reason why… why no one in the army trusts me anymore, K-Kurama. Pretending to be something I'm not is what got me into this mess… it's definitely _not_ what is going to get me out of it now…"

Kurama growled as he wedged himself inside the cover of her knapsack to stay hidden, and even Usagi bleated worriedly from her spot in Hinata's pocket. Her newfound pride of being a woman could very well be the very downfall of all of Japan. They both were about ready to start reprimanding her for not going ahead with Kurama's very wise suggestion, when the great pounding of drums resounded throughout the entire square, signaling that it was time to begin the long awaited declaration of the end of the war. All three of them immediately hushed along with the rest of the crowd to watch the important event.

* * *

Naruto was following the example he usually saw on a daily basis from his two friends Gaara and Sasuke, and was forcing himself to keep a seemingly emotionless expression on his face as he and the rest of the men in the platoon climbed up the great mass of stairs to where the Four Kage's and Mizukage Regent were waiting for all of them on the second landing below the front doors of the Imperial Palace. The long line of troops were followed closely behind by the large red celebratory dragon from the parade.

The palace itself was several stories high, and the main doors into the grand structure were both painted vivid burgundy with a gold trim and door knockers. They were made of exquisite hard wood with oriental carvings of the various kanji symbols of each of the lands in the new Japan: the Land of Fire, the Land of Winds, the Land of Water, the Land of Lightning, the Land of Earth, as well as the other minor regions such as the Land of Tea and the Land of Waves. Great marble statues of powerful summoning creatures guarded the doors on either side, their carved faces looking both beautiful and dangerous at the same time. From atop some of the many high towers in the majestic palace, there were servants shooting out streams of colorful fireworks across the black tiled roofs, and from almost every set of windows, more servants were excitedly poking their heads out so as to watch the historic moment. They weren't the only people in the palace who were excited. Standing regally in the many balconies were nobles from various clans all over the country, all whispering eagerly amongst themselves when they spied the brave men climbing the stairs so as to speak with the country leaders.

All Four Kage's and the Kage Regent stood side by side at the very near top of the steps, and gathered directly behind them, the members of the Honorable Families all stood together. They were all dressed in their finest clothes for the occasion, and even the Kage's that normally didn't choose to wear the white Kage robes on a daily basis were wearing them now, the only exception being Mei as she was simply the Mizukage Regent. She was therefore wearing the most elegant ocean blue kimono she owned, though for once the blue Mizukage hat was on her head to still show her rank of being the temporary leader of the Land of Water. All five leaders of Japan and even all the members of the Honorable Families were either smiling happily or smirking to show how impressed they were when they saw the heroes of the war come to a halt directly in front of them.

Naruto kept his expression neutral to hide how he was currently feeling because of the whole business with Hinata as he looked around. He wasn't particularly close to the other Kage's, the only exception being the great Third Hokage, and other than being friends with all the members of the Hokage's family, the three Sand Siblings, and even being fond of the Raikage's brother Killer Bee, he wasn't very familiar with the other Honorable Families. He didn't do anything other than nod courteously to the other Kage's and the Kage Regent, but he did shoot a half hearted smile at Hiruzen, who smiled warmly in return.

Then his gaze shifted just beyond them to look over at the Honorable Families. Sure enough, Killer Bee was flashing him a quick grin, and although Temari's teal eyes were searching for the faces of her two younger brothers behind him, and, coincidentally, flashed challengingly at a certain lazy shinobi a few steps off to his right, they did lock onto his for a brief moment, and she smiled kindly at him before resuming her search among the troops for Kankuro and Gaara. Kurotsuchi, the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, just gave him a courteous nod and smile, which he politely returned. They had never been all that close while growing up, so other than being relieved and happy to see that he had survived the war, she was just there for appearance's sake. Mei Terumi had no family members or close companions other than that of her two bodyguards Chojuro and Ao, who were currently standing off to the side with the other Kage bodyguards with somewhat relaxed expressions on their faces since they were also happy to know that the war was over. Naruto glanced over to see the family members in the Hokage's family. Tsunade had a small smile on her face as gazed at all of them, and beside her stood the forms of his two dear friends Sakura and Konohamaru. Sakura shot a warm, genuine smile at him for a few seconds until she saw Sasuke standing behind him, and all her attention immediately turned toward the raven-haired shinobi that she had loved ever since she was a child. Konohamaru on the other hand was focused solely on him, and he was smiling excitedly at who he considered to be his all time hero and role model. He flashed Naruto a thumbs up, pausing only for a moment to give a brief wave to his sensei, Ebisu, who he was also happy to see had survived the war. Lady Kurenai stood beside them, and although she was smiling warmly at all of them, she was slightly preoccupied by the small pink bundle she was carrying in her arms, and would coo at it affectionately every few moments when small whimpers resounded from it.

She had had her baby during the few months while they were all away, and judging by the color of the blankets the child was swaddled in, it was a girl.

Naruto forced a small smile on his face as he nodded to all his old friends, and then he looked up at the balconies overhead where the representatives of prominent ninja clans were watching over everything. He knew his dad wouldn't be up there, as he was gone now, but maybe if he was lucky, he would see his mom. Those on the Namikaze council may not like his mother very much anymore because she was a former member of the traitorous Uzumaki clan, but even they couldn't deny that it would be rude of the entire clan for them not to send her to this event. Not only was Kushina his mother, and he was the Captain of the last remaining troops in the Allied Shinobi Forces, but she was also now the widow to the late clan head, Minato Namikaze, who had been the General of the army. It would have disrespectful for their clan to not allow her to attend this end of the war celebration.

To Naruto's dismay, he couldn't find his mother's face in the crowd of nobles. He could spy the faces of other prominent clan heads he vaguely remembered, but he struggled to locate his mother. He wanted to keep looking around for her, but a sudden tap on his shoulder brought him back to the present.

"Naruto, the sword," Kakashi discreetly whispered to him.

Naruto jumped a bit at the unexpected words, but then he realized what Kakashi was talking about and hastily nodded before turning to face Ebisu. Ebisu was carrying the infamous sword that had formerly belonged to the late Orochimaru in his both of his hands. They had discovered it amongst all the wreckage left behind in the avalanche during their trip down the mountain after abandoning Hinata, and they had brought it along with them to present to the country's leaders as a token of proof that the evil snake summoner and his Sound army were officially defeated.

Naruto held out his hands for the sword, and Ebisu wordlessly handed it over to him. Regardless of personal feelings toward one another, this was an important moment, so they could set aside their differences for now. At least long enough to get through everything that would take place tonight.

But still, even as Naruto watched the Hokage, the Kazekage, the Tsuchikage, the Raikage, and the Mizukage Regent step forward to begin the historic event, Naruto still felt down, because again, he didn't deserve to be the one up here. More than anyone, his father, Jiraiya, and Sasuke's older brother Itachi should be here doing this, as they were the ones who fought toe-to-toe with the Sound ninjas, but even despite that, there was still someone else who deserved all the credit for the war even more than the three of them did.

 _Hinata._

He wanted to sigh sadly at that thought, but a servant suddenly beat a large drumstick down on an oversized gong, and the resounded ringing from the metallic instrument not only brought a sudden hush over the enormous crowd at the unspoken request to quiet down, it also brought the parade to a complete stop.

The Hokage stretched out his arms and spoke as the representative of all five Kage's put together. "People of Japan, heaven smiles down upon our new allied country. Japan will sleep safely tonight, thanks to the efforts of our brave ninjas in the unified Allied Shinobi Forces." There was a loud roar as the citizens in the square applauded and cheered enthusiastically at this declaration.

Everyone in the Imperial City was so happy.

The war was over.

Japan had won.

The evil Orochimaru was gone forever.

Nothing could ruin tonight.

Nothing could happen that would ruin this wonderful festival.

Eventually, the four men and the one woman were all forced to raise their hands for silence when it became evident that the crowd didn't intend to stop cheering anytime soon. The noise slowly died away, and Naruto took a step forward with the sword Kusanagi held out in front of him. He really didn't want to be doing this, being the one to present Orochimaru's sword to all five of them, but as the Captain and leader of the platoon, it was his duty and so he didn't have a choice. He felt almost like a plagiarist doing this, and in a way, he was. The defeat of the Sound army had been all thanks to Hinata, not him.

Still though, he bowed respectfully to the five of them, and held out the sword with both hands. He normally wouldn't really care about being respectful to any of them if he saw them any other day since he'd grown up around all five of them and their families, but as this was an important occasion, courtesy was required. "Honorable Kage's and Lady Regent," he said in a loud, clear voice so that everyone in the square could hear him. "I present to you the sword of Orochimaru."

The Kazekage, the Tsuchikage, the Raikage, and the Mizukage Regent all nodded in response to the respectful presentation of the enemy leader's sword, but Hiruzen smiled sympathetically down at Naruto. He had always considered the hyperactive blonde as almost a surrogate grandson while he was growing up, and he knew him well enough to know that he was troubled right now and not really thinking about the current event he was partaking in. He misunderstood the reason as to why this was, though.

"I know what this must mean to you, Naruto," he said quietly so that only the Namikaze heir could hear him. "Your father and Jiraiya would have been very proud…"

Naruto sighed at that thought and nodded. Despite how upset he still was about the whole Hinata mess, he was sure the old man Hokage was quite right about that, and that just made his heart pang painfully as he thought about the Pervy Sage and the hero of his life, his dad… "Yeah…" he said sadly. "I know…"

He started to pass the Hokage the sword, when quite suddenly—

 _Hiss!_

A somewhat large snake summoning that no one had noticed until right then burst out from the shadows of the railing of the stairs and flung itself between Naruto and the Hokage so as to clamp the blade of the sword firmly in between its teeth. It started slithering away as fast as it could, and successfully avoided the many people that tried to bar its path as it started making its way up one of the many long pillars of the palace so as to reach the black tiled rooftop.

Everyone there, ninja and civilian alike, immediately gasped and started murmuring amongst themselves in confusion. What the hell was going on? For one thing, why was this snake stealing Orochimaru's sword? And for another, how did a snake summoning even get through the summoning world to show up here tonight? The last snake summoner was supposed to be Orochimaru, and he was dead… wasn't he…?

Everyone stared as they watched the snake climb higher and higher up the pillar until it came to rest beside a somewhat large, shadowed carving on the rooftop. It dropped the sword at the statue's feet, and then slithered up it until it had comfortably draped itself around the carving's shoulders. Then, quite suddenly, the carving moved! The hand reached down to grasp hold of the handle of the sword, and then the statue slowly stood up from its place in the shadows, revealing that it was not a statue at all. It was Orochimaru, and he grinned wickedly down at the now frightened people far down below.

Everyone in the crowd either fearfully gasped or screamed in horror upon seeing the presumably dead traitor from the Land of Fire standing ominously above them, and they all instinctively edged away from the rooftop where he was looking down at all of them from, not wanting to be anywhere near the insane, maniacal man.

Naruto's eyes became as big as saucers as he slowly reached down into the weapons pouch on his leg to draw a kunai. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was completely flabbergasted to see that Orochimaru was here, alive and well. How the hell did he survive that avalanche?!

Then another thought popped into his mind. Hinata had been right. She had been telling him the truth. She had tried to warn him that he was still alive and was going to go after the Kage's and the Kage Regent, but he didn't listen. Why had he been such an ass and didn't listen to her?! Now, because of his fucking pride, Orochimaru and his five Generals—

Wait a minute… where were those five creeps?!

Naruto barely had enough time to start looking around wildly across the rest of the black tiled rooftops of the palace for the other five survivors, when there was a large tearing of what sounded like fabric from somewhere behind him and the rest of his fellow division leaders. He swung around in time to see the five Sound Generals, Kabuto, Sakon and Ukon, Tayuya, Kidomaru, and Jirobo all emerging from their hiding spot in the celebratory parade dragon.

An ambush. The last survivors of the Sound army had ambushed them all when they least expected it and when they were all right in front of the Kage's and the Honorable Families, and they had been too stupid to see through such an obvious tactic.

Naruto raised up his kunai to try and attack, but the Sound ninjas already had the element of surprise and were far quicker. The conjoined twins Sakon and Ukon knocked him to the ground with a solid punch to the jaw, and then joined their comrades in making several replications of themselves with various types of Clones. While the original five ninjas seized hold of the Four Kage's and the Kage Regent, all but knocking the five separate Kage hats off their heads in the process as they started dragging them up the remaining flights of stairs, the other number of clones worked on ushering the terrified members of the Honorable Families inside the palace, as they were all valuable hostages. There was also a number of the clones launching surprise attacks on the Kage bodyguards who had been standing off to the side, and two clones both managed to successfully overpower the two loyal bodyguards of the Mizukage, and began dragging their bloodied bodies through the main entrance too. Since the Mizukage Regent had no Honorable Family members to use as leverage against her, their lives held just as much value to the Sound shinobi as any of the other royals did.

By now, Naruto had overcome his moment of defeat as he sat up on the ground. When he spied the five different fallen Kage hats on the ground in front of him he finally looked up, and saw the Kage's, the Kage Regent, and all the members of the Honorable Families being forcefully ushered through the main entrance of the Imperial Palace. The doors were closing fast behind them, with four clones of Kidomaru, Jirobo, Sakon and Ukon, and Tayuya guarding the doors as they prepared to make some type of barrier jutsu.

"No!" the blonde-haired boy shouted, jumping up to his feet and rushing toward the clones. He had to stop them now! If they put up a barrier jutsu, it would take them all forever to bust it down in order to save the royals!

Following his example, Sasuke waved his hand at the rest of his troops to get them to follow. "Come on!" he shouted loudly. That was all it took for the rest of the men in the platoon to start sprinting up the stairs to try and stop the clones from setting up that barrier.

It was no use though. By the time all the men in the platoon managed to get up there, the doors had slid shut, and the clones of the four Sound ninjas had just finished setting up the barrier. A vivid bright purple wall emerged out of nowhere between the set of doors and the panicked army, and as soon as it was up the four clones vanished completely, their work now finished.

Naruto wasn't able to stop in time from slamming right into it, but even so, he shoved the pain aside, and banged his fist up against the see-through, but still seemingly solid purple wall in obvious aggravation. He reeled back his fist to strike it again in his anger, but maniacal laughter resounded from the rooftop, and everyone in the square looked back up. Orochimaru was still standing at his spot on the black tiled roofs, and he was cackling loudly in triumph.

In the snake traitor's opinion, he had already won.

He had the Kage's, the Kage Regent, and all the members of the Honorable Families right in the palm of his hand.

By the time those idiots in the army were able to bust down that barrier, it would be too late.

He would already have Japan in his grasp.

Nothing could stop him now.

Naruto yelled out furiously as he banged his fist one last time into the purple wall of the barrier, but it didn't give an inch. He then whirled around to face the rest of the men in his squad. "We gotta get this barrier down pronto! Use any jutsu you know of! We're gonna pound down this barrier until it gives way! We have to get inside!"

The men all nodded.

"Yes, sir!"

"Right!"

"We can do it!"

Everyone gathered around up close to the purple see-through wall, and began forming rapid hand signs as they shouted out names of various powerful jutsus that they knew of, and started attacking the barrier furiously. Some men even joined together to topple over a particularly large statue from its place beside the door, and then worked together to lift it up so it could be used as a battering ram. They whammed it hard against the purple wall as the other men used every powerful jutsu they knew of to shatter the barrier, but their efforts were to no avail.

The damn barrier remained completely solid.

* * *

After Orochimaru had appeared out of thin air from the shadows and the other five Sound shinobi made their move of practically kidnapping the Kage's and the Honorable Families, the Imperial City citizens that had been watching all this from their spots in the square had gone crazy. If Orochimaru had been able to abduct the royals of their city with seemingly little to no effort even with the troops of the Allied Shinobi Forces standing right next to them, who was to say that Orochimaru couldn't kill all of them with just a snap of his fingers? Terrified and hysterical screaming had ensued as people panicked. Total pandemonium filled the square in front of the Imperial Palace as the Imperial City ninjas did their best to try and calm the frenzied mob down.

In the mad rush of hysteria, no one took notice of one seemingly insignificant teen girl with long blue hair break out from the crowd and dash as fast as she could up the steps so as to be up close to the rest of the army, who were still making fruitless efforts to break down the strong purple barrier.

Hinata was running as fast as she could up the stairs. It no longer mattered to her what Naruto and the rest of the army thought of her. They needed all the help they could get if they were going to take on Orochimaru and his last remaining band of ninjas. They'd be fools to shun her for a third time when all she wanted to do was help them.

Kurama poked his head out from underneath the flap of her knapsack, and started grumbling at her. "Woman, you don't have to get involved in this again. You tried to warn them all that those assholes were still alive and they didn't listen to you. You can just wash your hands of this whole mess and walk away now. No one would blame you this time, not when you tried to actively stop this from happening. Let those idiots deal with the consequences of not listening to you, I say…"

From the pocket of her jacket, Hinata heard Usagi start bleating something that sounded almost like agreement.

Hinata shook her head at their advice. "That would be wrong, Kurama… I can't j-just turn my back on this. I… I have to help them somehow!"

Kurama rolled his eyes at her words, but said nothing further, as she had finally made it to the top of the stairs. He dove back down into the cover of her bag to hide himself again as Hinata watched her fellow former ninja comrades continue to try to unsuccessfully break down the barrier that the Sound ninjas had set up.

She frowned when she realized that they were not only failing to realize that what they were doing was all but pointless, but were also wasting valuable time, energy, and chakra trying to get in the blocked front doors when they should be looking for an easier, alternative way inside.

"That'll take too long… They'll never r-reach the Kage's and the Honorable Families in time…" she whispered rather quietly to herself out loud.

She sighed sadly at everyone's lack of basic common sense and glanced around at the basic architect of the palace. There were many tall, decadent pillars around the entire base of the ground level of the beautiful, oriental castle. If they were around the base level in the front, then perhaps they were also along the sides and back, and if they were lucky there might even be some lined up with accessible windows. Perhaps by a series of servant windows… Servant windows were great if they were accessible. And if they were possibly above some of the pillars here, it might be possible to get inside. These pillars reminded her a bit of that huge pine pole she had spent an entire night back at the training camp trying to climb up using nothing but the chakra in her feet. If they could all use the chakra in their feet to climb up a series of pillars and then sneak inside the palace that way, they stood a chance at beating back the Sound ninjas and rescuing the Kage's and their families.

There was only one flaw. How could they bust inside the palace without alerting the Sound shinobi they were coming and make a surprise attack of their own? They were expecting the army to bust in through the front entrance should they somehow manage to break down the barrier and get in through those oversized doors, but if they were found by one of the Sound ninjas before they could get to Orochimaru while sneaking in, they could alert their leader and Orochimaru could kill one of the hostages before they could get to him.

What could they do to make sure that didn't happen…?

She pondered the question for a moment as she tucked a strand of her long blue hair behind her ear, but as she did so, a wild idea came into her head and she glanced down at the long hair in her hand.

What she was thinking… it might work, but she knew for a fact that the others in the squad would _definitely_ not like it…

That didn't matter, though. It was certainly a better plan than what everyone else was currently doing, wasting away their time trying to break down a pretty much unbreakable barrier.

Before she could start losing her confidence and second guessing herself, she ran up a bit closer to everyone to make sure they could hear her, and then whistled sharply. "Hey, guys!" she called out somewhat loudly, a little embarrassed by her plan, but knowing deep down that there wasn't time for her to act as shy as she usually did.

Everyone immediately halted upon hearing her meager shout, and those that knew her specifically looked over their shoulders to give her surprised, quizzical looks. Once again, Naruto was conflicted upon seeing the newly revealed Hyuuga heiress. He didn't know what he was supposed to say or do to her, especially since they were all in the middle of a full out emergency.

While he was busy contemplating what he ought to say to her, Choji on the other hand had no such reservations, and simply blinked twice when he saw her before canceling the Partial Expansion Jutsu on his hand that he had been in the middle of preparing to do. "Hinata?" he asked curiously.

Hinata smiled brightly, glad to know that there was at least one person in front of her who wasn't about to yell at her. "I… I've got an idea!" she exclaimed.

She didn't wait to hear any of them ask her what it was. She turned sharply around on her heel, and started running as fast as she could away from them to try and find a set of pillars in the back of the palace underneath a set of any accessible windows. She didn't dare look back to see if they were following her or not. It was up to all of them this time if they wanted her help. Could they set aside their prejudice sexism towards women and listen to her for once, even though she was a girl? It was definitely a defining moment for the young princess, finding out if the friends she'd made over the past few months were really as thickheaded and stubborn as they'd always acted.

The others watched her as she ran off, and there was a long pause as everyone considered her words. Following the commands and the idea of a _girl_ was highly unprecedented, not to mention possibly treasonous, but really, what choice did they have? They were getting nowhere with knocking down this bright purple barrier, and at this point, any other idea was a welcome one.

The only person there who was really sticking his nose up at her was the irritable Ebisu. "Stubborn girl! This is no place for a woman! She should just learn to stop sticking her nose into matters that do not concern her!"

But he was the only person there who thought this way about Hinata, because the other men were actually appreciative of the fact that someone else, woman or not, had a better idea on how to save the Kage's and the Honorable Families than simply wasting time and energy trying to get through this unbreakable purple wall. With quick looks over at the rather hesitant Naruto and then sending knowing smirks to one another, Kiba and his dog Akamaru, Kankuro, Lee, Choji, and Shino all turned away from the barrier and immediately started running after their female friend. There was another small pause, but then Gaara, Sasuke, and Shikamaru dropped what they were doing and started running after them, too.

Naruto spluttered when he saw his three best friends starting to ditch him with the rest of the troops.

"Yo! Where the hell do you guys think you're going?!" he demanded.

Gaara didn't do anything more than shoot his longtime friend a quick glance over his shoulder as he ran past him, not stopping for even a moment as he ran after Hinata and the others. "I do not care what becomes of my father, Naruto, but I will follow anyone who has a plan on how to save my sister."

"Tch, it doesn't take me, a genius with an I.Q. of over two hundred, to see that we're not going to be able to break down this barrier in time to save the royals," Shikamaru said with an exaggerated eye roll.

"Hn. Don't be an idiot right now, Naruto. That girl might have deceived everyone before, but she's still the one whose wild plan took out all but a handful of Sound ninjas with just one kunai," Sasuke agreed. "Whatever her idea is, it's most likely better than wasting time and energy here."

The three of them ran after Hinata and her friends without daring to look back.

For a long moment, Naruto stood there in front of the barrier, desperately wanting to be mad at everyone who had abandoned the rest of the platoon so as to follow a plan of action that the lying girl had come up with, but somehow, he couldn't find it in himself to get angry. Because in a way, his three best friends were all correct. Trying to get through this barrier was getting them absolutely nowhere, and besides, what if Hinata did have a good idea? So long as her idea managed to get them inside, they could save the Kage's and the Honorable Families, and finally be able to stop Orochimaru once and for all.

With a firm nod to himself, he turned to face Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, I'm leaving you in charge. Keep trying to get in this way. If Gaara, Sasuke, Shikamaru, or I am not back in an hour or you get wind of the worst news, stop attempting to get this barrier down and focus on evacuating civilians," he ordered.

Kakashi nodded to show he understood, but Ebisu scowled at him.

" _Captain Uzumaki,_ do not tell me that you intend to follow after that girl! You of all people should understand that traitors have no place in the Allied Shinobi Forces!" he snapped.

Naruto paused when he heard those words, but then he turned to face the cranky advisor with an ugly scowl. "I don't care anymore that she's a girl! She seems to have a better plan to get inside than I do! It doesn't matter what gender you are or who your parents are! What really matters is how you choose to live your life, as a good person or a bad person!"

And with that, Naruto ignored the stupefied expression on Ebisu's face as he spun around, and ran as fast as he possibly could after the others that were all following the kind, brave Hyuuga princess.

* * *

Hinata had run all the way around the back of the palace in her desperate search for pillars under a series of windows or at least a balcony. At this point, it didn't matter anymore if they were servant windows or not. Just pillars beneath some sort of entryway would suffice. It took her some time, but she finally found a number of tall pillars directly underneath a chain of tall windows that were up on the second floor. She wasn't sure whether or not they led to the servant's quarters or perhaps a regal bedroom, but they would work just fine for her plan, even if she was forced to do it alone.

As she approached one of the pillars and prepared to channel her chakra down to her feet so as to climb up, her five good friends and a certain oversized ninja hound finally turned the corner and at last caught up to her. They weren't alone, either. Seconds after they had all appeared, Gaara, Sasuke, and Shikamaru all ran up, too.

"Hir— I mean, Hinata!" gasped Kiba, sounding slightly out of breath as he started panting a bit from the quick sprint. "We want… Well, I mean—"

"You all wish to help?" Hinata guessed. Her friends all awkwardly nodded to her, which she returned with a kind, happy smile. "I'm glad. I… I d-don't think I can do this plan alone." Then she turned to face the two Co-Captains and the leading Tactician. "Don't get me wrong, but… but I'm h-honestly surprised that you three are here, too. Shouldn't you all be back with the others and N-Naruto?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "I am here simply because you have a better plan than Naruto does for how to save my sister, and if Kankuro trusts you, I will trust you too. I will help you for those two reasons, and those reasons alone."

"If you have a plan, we will follow you," said Sasuke emotionlessly. "If we do nothing, the Kage's and the Honorable Families will for sure die."

"Don't get us wrong, we all respect Naruto as both our friend and as a ninja, but the troublesome idiot can't see that his idea to get inside is such a drag," Shikamaru added. "He needs a few more brain cells in basic common sense."

"Hey! Watch what you say about me, Shikamaru!"

Everyone whirled around. Naruto had just run around the corner of the palace himself, and was glaring irritably at the generally lazy shinobi as he hurried up to join all of them.

Hinata wasn't the only one there to blink twice in surprise when they saw the spiky blonde-haired boy rush up to them. She didn't understand. Why was Naruto here? She had been under the impression that he never wanted to so much as _look_ at her again, much less try to help her with her crazy idea to stop Orochimaru and his followers. She had to stare at him for a long moment before she found her courage to speak.

"N-Naruto… what're you doing here?" she said in obvious confusion.

Naruto had the decency to look a tad bit uncomfortable as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Well… you said you had a plan, right? If you've got a better idea, I'm all for it… I think it's safe to say that everyone here knows that I sure as hell don't…"

Hinata stared at him in utter disbelief for a few seconds, but then slowly nodded. "Yes, I… I have plan…"

"Well, great! What is it then?"

Everyone turned to her eagerly, desperate to know what her plan was exactly and what they could do to help.

Hinata blushed bright red and shyly looked away. She knew her plan was good, but she honestly didn't know how the others were going to react to it. She knew for a fact that they weren't going to like it. The question was, whether they liked it or not, were they willing to do it for the good of the country? It wasn't just their lives and pride that were at stake here. The four Kage's, the Kage Regent, and all the members of the Honorable Families were depending on them, after all.

She took a deep breath, looked firmly ahead at everyone so that they knew she wasn't joking at all about what she was telling them, and then just blurted it right out.

"The first thing we're going to do is use our chakra to climb up these pillars so as to get inside, and then… and then we're going to p-pretend to be visiting noblewomen to get up close to the Sound shinobi when their guard is dropped…"

Silence.

For almost a full minute, no one said anything. All the boys in front of Hinata simply stared at her as though she had suddenly grown a second head. Her plan was completely ludicrous! They honestly couldn't believe she had just suggested to them what she did.

Finally, Kankuro was the one to break the silence by trying to awkwardly chuckle. "Wow… that's a good one, Hinata… Great joke, now what's your real plan?"

Hinata's brows furrowed at Kankuro's words. "I am not joking, Kankuro. I am being quite serious here. We are to disguise ourselves as noblewomen."

"You must have hit your head quite hard at some point to believe that any of us are going to do such a thing," said Shino, adjusting his dark sunglasses as he spoke but almost sounding as shocked as Kankuro did.

"I agree with Shino, Hinata. I do not believe that dressing up as a woman is very youthful at all," Lee said, looking quite embarrassed at such a notion.

"Screw this plan, I'm going back to where the others are," Kiba declared. "Akamaru and I can break down that barrier, no sweat! Come on, boy!"

The oversized ninja hound barked in agreement. The dog and master started to storm off back to the front of the palace where the rest of the army was at, but Hinata's words stopped him.

"Trying to break down that barrier is… is a waste of time and chakra. I k-know what I'm saying sounds very… _unorthodox,_ but time is of the essence here. Would you rather that the Kage's and the Honorable Families were killed by Orochimaru and the Sound shinobi, or… or would you rather let go of your pride by trying a different approach in order to r-rescue all of them?"

"You are asking all of us to cross dress in women's clothes and pretend to be girls," Sasuke growled, actually looking quite angry at the notion. "You can't blame us for not wanting to do it."

Hinata quickly shot the Uchiha a small glare, finally having enough of all of the protests. "F-First of all, I'm not saying that everyone needs to look like girls in order to distract the five Generals, just a couple of us… because the others will have the objective of rescuing the Kage's and the Honorable Families while s-someone fights with Orochimaru to divert his attention so that they can all get out… Second, I'm not saying any of you have to literally put on women's c-clothing. A Transformation Jutsu should be good enough."

"But I cannot do any jutsus, Hinata, remember?" Lee interjected.

Hinata blinked, realizing that in this instance, Lee was correct. "Oh, well… I'm sure no one will mind if w-we just borrow an elegant gown from a bedroom… If we're lucky, the room above us might belong to a n-noblewoman who lives in the palace. I'll even wear a kimono, too, instead of just using a r-regular Transformation Jutsu, if that helps…"

"Ha! Looks like you'll be the real cross dresser among all of us, Lee!" Choji snickered. Even Shikamaru couldn't help but grin a bit at his friend's comment.

Lee's cheeks brightened as he threw a small, barely noticeable scowl at both of them.

"And finally… I'm not asking any of you to d-do any more than I already have…"

That shut everyone up, and they all stared quizzically at the young heiress, not understanding what she meant.

"I… I cross dressed myself for a full three months. Not because I wanted to, but so that I c-could protect my father, someone I deeply love. I know only a few of you actually personally know the Kage's and the H-Honorable Families, but… but you all wish to protect them, don't you? You want to protect all of them from Orochimaru and the Sound ninjas. I'm not asking any of y-you to do anything more than what I myself have actually done… If anything, I actually think I am being quite reasonable!"

There was a brief pause as everyone considered this. Then Shikamaru exasperatedly sighed. "Geez… When you put it that way, you make it all but impossible to say no, now… Aw man, this is gonna be such a drag…"

"Shikamaru, don't tell me you're actually agreeing with this!" Kiba gasped in horror. "You're supposed to be some kind of genius, right?! Come up with another plan, please! One that does _not_ involve any of looking like a bunch of—"

Hinata distinctly coughed rather loudly as a somewhat offended expression spread across her face.

"—like a bunch of girls," he politely finished, although it was clear by the expression on the Inuzuka clansman's face that the word he had been planning to use before to end that sentence was definitely something that wasn't used in polite conversation.

"Kiba, I don't like this plan anymore than you do, but I cannot deny that it's probably the best we can do under these circumstances," the lazy Nara clansman groaned. "I can't deny that this will be very troublesome, but overall, the idea itself is genius, because Hinata is right. If the Sound shinobi initially see us charging in looking like our usual selves, they'll be on guard and we'll have to waste precious time and energy on a bunch of unnecessary and difficult fights, but if they see a bunch of noblewomen approaching them dressed all prim and proper, looking as though they've never so much as seen a single kunai blade before in their entire life, they'll all drop their guard. We stand a better chance at getting past them with a surprise attack like that than we would with any other plan…"

"Damn it!" Kiba snapped, now sounding rather resigned since even the genius amongst them was going along with Hinata's ludicrous plan.

"S-So… we're agreed then, right?" Hinata asked a bit hesitantly.

"Hold it. Which of us will be pretending to be girls, and which of us will linger back so as to have our full strength to rescue the Kage's and the Honorable Families?" said Gaara suddenly.

"Oh… I hadn't thought that far ahead, actually," Hinata confessed. "I honestly wasn't sure if any of you would be w-willing to… to go along with my idea and run away from where the rest of the army is trying to b-break down the barrier. I think it should be up to Naruto to decide who's in what group."

Naruto blinked twice at that as everyone there turned to stare at him. "Up to me?" he repeated, clearly surprised.

Hinata nodded, but she kept her eyes downcast a bit so as to avoid looking him in the eye. "Y-Yes… You are our leader, Naruto. It should be your c-call on who does what."

"But… But this is your plan, Hinata… Why should I take it over from you?"

This time, Hinata didn't bother to hide her sad sigh. "Well, why s-shouldn't you? You said it yourself that I don't… that I don't really belong here, anyway…"

Hinata avoided making eye contact with anyone after saying that and simply looked down at her feet, too embarrassed to look up again and show her face. She knew that it was rather childish and immature of her to bring that up right now and in front of everyone, but she couldn't deny the fact that she was still hurt by how he had treated her earlier. Was it wrong of her to want an apology of some sorts from him?

Naruto's face flamed red as the others wisely chose to stay quiet. That was a low blow, but he couldn't really say anything in his own defense at what Hinata had just said. He really had been an ass to her. It was one thing to act how he did back on that mountain this morning, because although he'd been angry at all her lies and her treasonous deception, he had still been acting as the Captain of the Allied Shinobi Forces, but earlier in the parade? He had been angry with her, but he had said a lot of nasty things to her that were completely out of line. He really couldn't blame her for being offended and assuming that he was still angry with her.

A loud cough off to the side caught the blonde young man's attention, and he looked over. Sasuke was sending him a rather unimpressed look. "This is generally the part where you're supposed to apologize to her, Loser," he said flatly.

"Yeah, you owe her that, at the very least," Kankuro agreed with a slight snigger.

Naruto shot a glare at the puppeteer, and then turned back to Hinata, his cheeks still rather red. "I… I'm sorry," he mumbled quietly. "I was wrong before. I should have listened to you. It makes no sense that a wounded girl would make such a hard ride down here into the Imperial City when she was in no shape to be doing any riding. I'm sorry…"

Hinata looked back up at him shyly, her own cheeks tinted a bright shade of pink, and then gave him a rather bashful smile as she nodded in return. "A-Apology accepted," she said quietly. "I… I can't blame you for being mad, though. Any of you, actually… I mean, who's ever heard of a girl who wanted to b-become a ninja and fight for Japan…?"

She awkwardly chuckled at her own statement while fiddling with the straps of the knapsack on her back as the others exchanged quick looks. Now that they knew her a bit better as simply being Hinata and not the man that they had all thought to be 'Hiro,' they couldn't say that they were as mad at her as they had been before. They all still weren't a hundred percent okay with her lies and decisions that had led her to be standing in front of them today, but when they stopped and considered things from her perspective, none of them could really say that they wouldn't have done the same if it had been for a member of their own families that they deeply cared about.

Naruto nodded slightly at her words, but then he suddenly looked very serious. "But still, this is your plan, Hinata. I may be the leader of the entire platoon, but you're the one who came up with this plan. You must have some idea as to who here is best suited to which parts between distracting the guards, rescuing the Kage's and the Honorable Families, and who stalls that bastard Orochimaru."

"W-Well… if it were up to me, I think Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, Kankuro, and I should… should be the ones to dress up like g-girls in order to distract the guards."

"What?! You gotta be kidding me! Why?!" Kiba demanded.

"Because… Because the Kage's and the Honorable Families all know Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru quite well since they grew up among all of them. They're less l-likely to panic if they see them storm in to rescue them than they would if… if the rest of us were to go up there."

"They know me!" Kankuro huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm the eldest son of the Kazekage! They know me just as well as they know Gaara! I should go up to help, too!"

"No offense, K-Kankuro, but everyone here knows that Gaara is stronger than you. When Orochimaru tries to strike back when they all burst in to rescue the royals, I think… I think Naruto should be the one to fight him, and Sasuke and Shikamaru should be the ones to focus on protecting the Honorable Families, b-because Gaara should focus on protecting and getting the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent out of there."

Everyone blinked at that, especially Gaara. "Why me?" the red-haired boy asked with narrowed eyes. "I have nothing against the other Kage's or the Lady Regent, but why should I try to protect my father? If there was one person that died today that Kankuro and I would not feel any sympathy for, it would be our father, because he's a terrible man."

Hinata was silent for a moment at that, and then she gave him a sad look. "I… I am s-sorry about how things are between both of you, your sister, and your father, Gaara, and I know that that's not really m-my business… but your sand can carry people and shield them, can it not? If you were to shield all f-five of them with your sand shield and then use the sand to safely get them all out of there… We can r-rescue them all."

Gaara considered her words for a moment, and then slowly nodded. "Very well. That is a sound plan," he conceded.

"If we are all on the same page, then we should probably start climbing up the pillars," said Shino, glancing over at the said pillars they were all standing by as he did so. "We have a sound plan, but we still need to get up there and find kimonos for Lee and Hinata to change into while the rest of us disguise ourselves with the Transformation Jutsu, not to mention that the more time we stand here discussing this, the more time the rest of the royals are in Orochimaru's clutches."

Naruto nodded at the bug-user's words. "Shino's right. Let's get on up there!"

"Hold it! What about Akamaru?! He can't climb up that pole, remember?!" Kiba exclaimed. The large white dog barked twice in agreement to his master's words.

Before anyone could begin to quietly wonder how they could possibly get the oversized dog up onto the balcony above them where the pillars led up to, a large cloud of sand suddenly flew out from Gaara's gourd. Everyone watched as the sand very carefully gathered around Akamaru's whole body so as to pick him up, and then stared as the sand slowly rose up into the air toward the balcony while still carrying the ninja hound, and set him gently down on the opposite side of the railing before shooting back down towards all of them so as to return inside of Gaara's large gourd.

Naruto blinked twice at what his best friend had just done, but then shrugged before turning to Kiba. "Problem solved!" he said with an awkward grin.

Everyone wordlessly nodded at the Captain's words, and then brought their hands together to form the hand sign so as to gather their chakra at the bottoms of their feet. The dust on the ground near all of their feet suddenly shot outwards and away from their body once this had happened, as this was the only visible sign that they had all gathered their chakra successfully, and then they began running up the pillars. All of the men in the group ran up the length of the large columns easily and without getting winded, but Hinata lingered back a bit as she cringed in aching pains from her stomach, and when she managed to climb over the railing of the balcony, she had to literally bite her own tongue to hold in a very loud, agonizing moan.

Choji noticed her pained expression and shot her a sympathetic look. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

The others also looked somewhat worried, but Hinata just forced a smile on her face as she waved their fears aside. "I'll be okay. I just wish the camp m-medic could have done a better job, that's all…"

"Hn. His skills are a joke compared to that of Lady Tsunade and Sakura," Sasuke agreed with a slight nod. "When this is all over, we can ask that they try and help continue to heal you where the Kumo medic-nin left off."

"Okay. Thank you…"

The balcony doors were locked when they tried to open them, but Sasuke simply retrieved his katana sword from its sheath attached to his waist, and charged a bit of his elemental chakra affinity of lightning to his blade before lightly slashing down at the handle to the doors. The knob blasted open as the metal was fried, and Sasuke carefully replaced his sword back into its sheath as Naruto pushed open the door and hurriedly gestured for everyone to get inside.

Hinata couldn't help but be amazed when she entered the private bedroom. She had always believed that her bedroom back at the Hyuuga clan estate was quite lavish, but compared to this lavish bedroom, her room was nothing in comparison. It obviously belonged to a woman of some nature, judging by the number of perfume bottles, small jewelry boxes, and a series of pretty painted hand fans lying across the surface of the elaborately crafted vanity table against one of the nearby walls, and judging by an open door on the side of the room revealing a huge walk-in closet beside a large changing screen, and exposing that the interior of the closet was filled with beautiful kimonos in a variety of colors. The bed itself was big enough to easily fit about four people comfortably and still have leg room, and it was covered in a soft silk bedspread and had fluffy white pillows at the head.

Despite the need to rush and get ready so they could hurry and rescue the Kage's and the members of the Honorable Families, Hinata couldn't stop herself from looking around at this bedroom in absolute awe. Who here in the Imperial Palace lived in such a beautiful room? Did it perhaps belong to the esteemed Lady Tsunade, the daughter of the Hokage? Or perhaps the Mizukage Regent, Mei Terumi? Whoever it was that lived here, it had to be a lovely young woman who always exuded a perfect femininity while out in public. Surely the occupant of this room was someone who was much better than she was at acting like a proper young lady, at the very least. After all, there was no other girl in the world who was more pathetic and worthless than her, or more dishonorable…

Hinata had literally just finished thinking this when an exasperated groan abruptly resounded, and she turned to look over her shoulder at Kankuro, who strangely seemed to be annoyed all of the sudden.

"Ah, shit! We have the worst luck in the world! We all just _had_ to break into this room!" he grumbled. "Gaara! You know for a fact she's going to kill us for this, right?"

"Considering she is in danger right now, Kankuro, I'm sure she'll get over her anger at us for doing this quite easily," his younger brother mysteriously said, but it was clear by the way his expression seemed to be very fixed that he was not happy about where they all were, either. "Compared to her death and the deaths of the other royals, her anger at us for two stolen kimonos is highly preferable."

"W-What are you two talking about?" Hinata asked curiously.

"This is our older sister Temari's bedroom," Kankuro explained with a roll of his eyes. "I don't know if you consider yourself to be a tomboy or not, Hinata, but trust me when I say that our sister is the very definition of tomboy. She's outspoken, rude, and can be a downright bitch sometimes…"

"You forgot to add violent," Shikamaru said with a slight chuckle.

Gaara's eyes flashed dangerously over at his good friend. "Nara, I highly advise you to not speak or try to look comfortable while we are all in here. Do not think for a second that Kankuro and I like the fact that you are in our sister's bedroom right now, and do not doubt at all that should I personally ever find out that you are ever in here again… I should tell you that I know many ways to crush a man's body with various different techniques with my sand."

Shikamaru instantly shut up and quickly focused his eyes on staring simply at a gorgeous painting of the infamous sand dunes of the Sunaese Desert in the afternoon sunlight that was hanging above the dresser, determined to stare only at that during the entire duration in this room so as to not anger the scary redhead or his puppet fanatic older brother, who was also starting to scowl warningly at him. Being the victim of an assassination attempt at the age of seventeen by the two overprotective brothers of the most violent woman on the face of the earth was far too troublesome for the Nara heir to deal with.

"Are you both sure your sister won't mind what we're about to do?" Hinata asked worriedly. "We… We could always just b-borrow some kimonos from a guest room for Lee and me to change into…"

Kankuro scoffed off her concerns with a vague wave of his hand. "If Temari gets mad at anyone for this, it will be with me and Gaara, not you or Lee. It'll be a pain for us to listen to her bitching, but just like baby bro said, considering she could be killed right now by those Sound assholes, she'll probably get over it very quick."

"Let's hurry, then," Choji commented. "The two of you better grab some kimonos and get changed fast."

"Choji's right," said Kiba as he patted his trusty dog's head. "Orochimaru isn't going to wait forever for the Kage's to officially surrender before he starts getting violent…"

Hinata and Lee obediently nodded, and then walked over together to the walk-in closet. Lee looked very sheepish as he stared at all of the multi-colored formal clothes dangling from hangers against the walls.

"I… I'm afraid I do not know what to wear, Hinata. Do you have any opinion on which one I should put on?" the green spandex-wearing shinobi asked, sounding more than a bit embarrassed.

"W-Well, do you have any preference in color, Lee?"

"Green! Green is the best color of all!"

Hinata delicately fingered the many beautiful silk robes for a few moments before carefully removing a bright green kimono from its hanger, and then found a matching obi on the hanger beside it before carefully handing them over to the taijutsu expert.

"Yosh! Thank you, Hinata!"

"You're welcome, Lee. If… If you d-don't mind at all, could you close the closet doors on your way out? I need to change, too…"

"Oh, of course! No problem at all!"

Lee hurried out of the closet and did exactly as she asked by politely closing the closet doors behind him so she could find a gown of her own to change into in complete privacy from the others. She blushed a bit at the idea that her friends were all but a few feet away from her and waiting for her to change as she carefully shrugged her knapsack off of her shoulders and set it gently down on the ground. Kurama and Usagi both poked their heads out as they watched their human charge begin sifting through the racks of kimonos to find something to wear.

"This plan of yours is complete lunacy, woman! You do know that, right?!" Kurama quietly growled, not wanting the nine men waiting outside the closet doors to catch wind of his voice.

"Perhaps," Hinata agreed, but not even turning her head around to look at him as she continued searching through the racks of clothes. "But it's the only plan that has even the slightest chance of working. It… It would be f-foolish not to at least try it, especially since nobody else has any good ideas."

"And what about me and the bunny here, huh? You can't just expect us to just sit in here and wait quietly, do you?"

Usagi nodded her head and squeaked in agreement.

"Of c-course not! You can both follow all of us from the shadows. I… I'd feel much better if there were two extra sets of eyes watching our backs. You both would be doing m-me a huge help if you did that!"

Kurama grumbled a bit at that, but otherwise let the matter go. "Ugh! Fine… Just hurry up and pick something! Like the Dog Boy said, time's wasting, so get cracking!"

"R-Right!"

* * *

To ensure that none of the Four Kage's or the Mizukage Regent tried anything funny while they journeyed through the halls of the palace to meet up with the evil Orochimaru, each one of the Sound Generals held a member of the Honorable Families hostage with kunais at their throat as they led them down the corridors toward the agreed upon meeting point.

Tayuya didn't even really need his kunai held at the throat of the nineteen-year-old boy Chojuro. He was so bloodied and spent from the previous battle whilst trying to protecting his region's leader from this terrible situation, he could barely even stand. Even though Ao was being gently supported by the kind Kage Princess Sakura by allowing him to lean on her as they traveled down the hall, Tayuya would roughly jerk the injured teenager by his light blue hair as he occasionally kicked hard at Chojuro's back when he would stop to try and catch his breath, clearly winded from the long walk all the way from the front of the palace. Although he and Ao would grunt and groan from their injuries, not once did their determined expressions leave their faces. They were humiliated and ashamed of themselves that they had allowed this to happen. Not only was their kind mistress Mei in mortal danger now because they had failed in their duties to protect her, but so were the other Four Kage's and all the members of the Honorable Families, too.

Jirobo was the only one physically large enough to overpower Killer Bee, the Raikage's younger adoptive brother, and couldn't help but chuckle darkly as he manhandled the only registered shinobi amongst all of the Honorable Family members as they made their way through the palace. As the only physically healthy ninja there other than the Four Kage's, who knew better than to try anything right now should something happen to their innocent family members and Chojuro and Ao were currently in no condition to be doing any more fighting right now, Killer Bee was a threat, so Jirobo kept his grip around both of the Kumo nin's wrists very tight as he pressed the blade of his throwing knife harshly against his bare neck. Not enough to seriously injure him, but there were definitely a few trickles of blood running down his dark skin where Jirobo had pressed his knife against him a little too hard. Although Bee was generally very easy going and could be a bit of a loudmouth at times just like Naruto, he recognized that this was not a situation to be running his mouth. He kept his mouth shut and just growled threateningly at the overweight man with orange-colored hair that was restraining him.

The conjoined twins Sakon and Ukon grinned wickedly as they held their own kunai at the neck of their captive, the Tsuchikage's granddaughter Kurotsuchi. Unlike most of the royals there, whose faces all clearly showed just how angry or terrified they were, Kurotsuchi walked with her head held up high. She was just as furious about the situation they were all in and scared just like the rest of them, but if she was to die today, she was determined to do so whilst demonstrating both inner strength and class. The only other Honorable Family member there that shared her outward look of calm determination was Lady Tsunade, who also walked straight ahead in a very dignified manner. If there was anything at all about Kurotsuchi that visibly showed that she was worried, it was how her eyes kept darting over toward her grandfather Onoki's frail form as he walked ahead alongside the other Kage's and the Lady Regent. She might tease her grandfather at times and often joked with him that he ought to retire and name her his Kage successor even though she was a woman and therefore not a ninja, but she definitely did not want him to do something stupid such as get himself killed by any of these invaders in order to protect her. He was much more important to the country of Japan than she was.

The one Honorable Family member that was actively struggling against the Sound ninja that was restraining her and pressing his blade to her throat was Temari. She was growling and spitting insults at Kidomaru, the snake traitor Orochimaru, and the entire Sound country under her breath as she actively tried to forcefully remove herself from his many spider-like hands. Just like the others, the Sunaese Princess knew that this was definitely not a time for her to be actively trying to provoke the men who held knives at her throat and the throats of the people she had all but grown up beside since the county of Japan was completely unified, but the second one of Kidomaru's many hands tried to fondle her chest, all rational thought flew right out of her head. She was a brash person after all, and she spent every second of the entire walk trying to either jam her elbow right into the lecherous grin of the disgusting perverted Sound ninja, or trying to spin around so as to knee him hard in the crotch. Although the other royals there couldn't exactly say that they were pleased by her rash behavior as it could potentially cause the Sound Generals to lose their patience and hurt one of them, none of them could exactly blame her for acting difficult. The man did try to grope her, after all…

Kabuto had initially planned to grab hold of the frightened Lady Kurenai and hold his kunai right over the head of her infant daughter Mirai that she was desperately cradling to her chest, but the moment Konohamaru had seen the silver-haired Sound shinobi approach his aunt and newborn cousin, the little twelve-year-old had all but thrown himself at the ninja and had tried to punch him. At that moment, Konohamaru hadn't been thinking in the long term of what doing that would end up resulting in. He had just been so focused on protecting his aunt and baby cousin that he had acted rashly. Afterwards, Kabuto had grabbed Konohamaru's left arm and had twisted it around so hard, a loud crack had resounded before the boy had screamed in pain. It was now broken. Both Sakura and Tsunade had initially rushed forward so as to heal him, but Kabuto's eyes flashed warningly at them to stay away as he seized the tearing up boy by the neck and had started dragging him through the corridor, now making him the Hokage hostage. Kurenai cried, knowing full well that her nephew Konohamaru was only being dragged around like this because he had been trying to protect her and her daughter Mirai, but despite his own pain-filled tears, Konohamaru kept giving her reassuring looks that he was okay. If he were given the option, he would gladly try to protect her again. As the next man of the Sarutobi family after his grandfather since his uncle and Kurenai's husband Asuma was now dead, in his young childlike mind, it was his job to protect the women in his family. Even though he was not a full shinobi quite yet, he would do everything he could to protect his aunt, baby cousin, mother, and older sister throughout this entire frightening ordeal if his grandfather Hiruzen was unable to.

All four of the Kage's and the Kage Regent hated to see their family members and in Mei's case, her bodyguards being manhandled in such a despicable way just to make sure that they would not try anything to get away, but they stayed calm and collected throughout the entire walk. The Sound shinobi wanted to see all five of them sweat and panic so that they would be a shaking mess when they met up with Orochimaru, but none of the country's leaders would give them the pleasure of seeing a trace of fear on their faces. Their expressions were either cool and serene, or hardened and seemingly emotionless as they continued through the palace. The only time they looked somewhat distraught was when a certain handmaiden stepped forward from where some other servants were watching everything from the shadowy sidelines and attempted to bar their path.

"P-Please…" the girl had begged through her tears as she got down on her hands and knees in front of the Sound ninjas. "Let the Kage's and the Honorable F-Families live… They're all good—"

Kabuto released his hold on Konohamaru momentarily so as to take another kunai out from his weapons pouch and flicked it over at the girl. The girl screamed when it was embedded in her shoulder.

"Matsuri!" Temari shouted, struggling harder than ever against Kidomaru's many hands that were restraining her so as to break free and see if she was okay. Matsuri had only been her new handmaiden for a few months now, but she considered her to be a good friend, even if she did have a bit of a crush on her youngest brother. But even so, she was one of the few girls in this palace other than her fellow female friends in the Honorable Families that she enjoyed talking to, and it pained her to see her be attacked like that.

Kidomaru growled, and tightened his grip on Temari so she wouldn't get away. "Stay still, bitch!" he snapped, pressing the blade of his kunai so hard against her throat, a bit of blood started running down her neck like that of Killer Bee.

Temari however didn't care about the small nicks, and continued to struggle. "Damn you to hell and back! Let me go, you sick bastard!"

"Temari, stop struggling now," called out the voice of the Kazekage, Rasa. For once, Rasa's voice was not hardened when he was addressing Temari. Instead, it seemed to be rather neutral in all aspects for once. Temari didn't know what to make of this sudden change in her father's voice, but she still did as he said and stayed quiet, although she kept glaring hatefully over her shoulder at Kidomaru, who merely grinned lecherously back when he saw her expression.

"Do not harm our servants, Kabuto," Hiruzen stated rather seriously as he glanced over at the glasses-wearing Sound ninja with a very stern expression. "They are blameless in this entire matter. If you want to attack anyone, let it happen to the five of us. Not our servants and especially not our families."

"Tell your servants and your families not to agitate us then," Kabuto said with an evil smirk as he seized hold of Konohamaru once again. "If they don't want to be harmed, tell them not to provoke us."

Wordlessly, Hiruzen turned to look over at Matsuri who was desperately clutching her shoulder with the kunai embedded in it as she tried to stand. "Thank you for trying to help, but please tell the other servants not to try to interfere again. None of us want to see any of you get hurt because of us."

"As you wish, Lord Hokage…" Matsuri said quietly.

She slowly made her way back to the shadows without another word, although she did look over worriedly at her friend Temari for a moment before fully disappearing from view.

As soon as she was gone, Hiruzen looked over at the members of his own family and the families of his fellow Kage's. "Please… I know that this is a terrible situation and you all must be very frightened, but I must ask you all not to panic. Everything will be sorted out soon."

The Honorable Family members and Lady Mei's personal bodyguards all slowly nodded. They didn't like having to act all complacent to their captors, but they all knew that Hiruzen was correct. So long as they didn't cause any big trouble, they all just might live to see tomorrow.

They continued on down the corridor in silence for a time, but then the Sound Generals finally led them all to a set of doors that led toward the main balcony overlooking the entire courtyard in front of the Imperial Palace. It was the best balcony in the entire palace for the enormous crowd outside to witness the execution of the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent.

Tayuya and Jirobo released their holds on Chojuro and Killer Bee in order to swing open the doors, and then gestured for the Kage's and the Lady Regent to move forward and climb up the stairs in front of them. As the five of them stepped forward to silently do as they said, the two Sound ninjas then turned to the Honorable Families and jerked their heads in the direction of the stairs right after them.

"Go on, you all, too," Tayuya growled.

The demand for the Honorable Families to go upstairs to the balcony so as to be executed as well made all five of the Kage's pause, and they immediately stopped their walk so as to turn back and look at the Sound shinobi.

"You leave our families alone, you bastards!" Ay shouted, furious at the demand being made. "They're not involved in this!"

"Orders from the boss. They go up, too," Jirobo grumbled. "Of course, they could stay behind. But only in various pieces…"

All five Kage's were furious about this, but they reluctantly nodded and signaled for the others to follow them upstairs. They did not want their families or Mei's bodyguards to be in mortal peril like this, but they didn't have any choice. It was either go upstairs with them right now and hope like hell they might walk away from this ordeal unscathed, or let them stay behind and get cut up by these sick men. It was obvious which option was the better alternative.

The five Sound Generals brought them all upstairs onto the balcony. They signaled for the Honorable Family members to stand off to the side and then seized each one of the Kage's roughly by the arm and dragged them to the front of the balcony, that way the city could have a good view of the five of them. There were many cries down below when the general population saw the five leaders at the edge of the balcony, but Hiruzen, Rasa, Onoki, Ay, and Mei barely even had the chance to absorb the view of all the frightened citizens down in the courtyard before Orochimaru suddenly appeared in front of them, hanging upside down and standing on the curved roof tiles by conducting his chakra in his feet.

The infamous snake traitor grinned maliciously at the five of them. "Boo!" he chuckled.

The reactions amongst the Honorable Family members upon seeing the wicked Orochimaru appear in front of them contrasted greatly. Some of them took a few steps backwards rather fearfully, but others glared hatefully at the snake summoner and tried to put up the pretense that they were not the slightest bit afraid. The Four Kage's and the Kage Regent did nothing, though. They just stared solemnly ahead and made no visible sign that they cared at all that one of the most powerful and evil men in the world was in front of them and ready to execute them in front of the rest of the city. They were stone walls. They would not grace this traitor with the privilege of seeing them all cower before him.

Orochimaru didn't care that the four men and the one woman in front of him didn't seem to be afraid. Each one of them would be shaking in their shoes by the time this night was over. With another small chuckle, he dropped down from his spot on the roof, and landed on the railing in front of the five of them.

"Guard the doors," he ordered his Generals. His followers all nodded and obediently left.

Once they were gone, Orochimaru hopped down from his perch on the railing, and slowly began circling all five of the Kage's, his twisted smirk never once leaving his face.

"At long last, all five of you are right where I want you," he chuckled. "You all act as though this means nothing to you, but I know better. You all must be terrified!"

"You are wrong, Snake," Mei declared firmly, her voice hard and her eyes narrowed. "We are all proud to be the leaders of this country."

Orochimaru chuckled as he strolled purposefully up to the Mizukage Regent, an intrigued look plastered across his face. "Ah, the Lady Regent! Such bold words! I have to wonder how far this country has already fallen to have allowed a woman to be the temporary leader of the Land of Water. It really is such a disgrace…"

Mei's eyes hardened, but she wisely stayed silent as Orochimaru got right up in her face, and began playing with a loose strand of her auburn hair.

"Tell me," he went on, twirling her auburn hair around his finger. "Do you even enjoy being the leader of the Land of Water? Your older brother Yagura caused so many problems for your region that you are the victim of so assassination attempts on a daily basis… Do you think your people will even mourn you should you die tonight? I think they will all dance in the streets should you die…"

"Shut your mouth! Get away from the Mizukage!"

All eyes turned at once toward Chojuro, who was glaring hatefully at Orochimaru as he swayed in place due to his painful injuries. Without a word, Ao tactfully removed himself from Sakura, who had still been allowing him to lean on her for support, and moved to stand beside the teenage boy as he too glared at the snake summoner.

Orochimaru seemed to be almost amused as he glanced over at the two injured bodyguards. "Are these your bodyguards, Lady Regent? How pitiful they are. Not only are they such weak shinobi to have allowed you to be in this predicament in the first place, but they both seem to be under the impression that you are the real leader of Kirigakure and not simply a regent to the Mizukage throne…"

"It doesn't matter if her official title is that of being a mere regent," said Ao, not the slightest bit intimidated by Orochimaru. "She has done a far better job as the leader of the Land of Water than Yagura ever did. Even if the rest of the world doesn't think much of Lady Mei, to the two of us, she will always be the true Mizukage."

Mei's eyes widened upon hearing this exclamation, deeply touched that her two bodyguards thought so highly of her. Orochimaru chuckled in amusement, but turned away from the two loyal Kiri bodyguards to turn his attention to the next Kage in the lineup. The Raikage.

"Lord Raikage? I'm surprised you're as quiet as you are. I was always told that you're the biggest hothead amongst all the leaders. Has fear of me made you hold your tongue?"

The Raikage growled. "You are lower that the dirt on the ground, Snake! You're not even worth my time!"

"Yeah, why don't you just go jump in the lake?! With you gone, we can all get along just fine!"

Upon hearing the second speaker rhyme the Raikage's words 'snake' and 'time' with his own words 'lake' and 'fine,' Orochimaru didn't even need to look over to know who had spoken, but he did so anyway. Killer Bee looked murderous as he glared towards the snake summoner who was looking over his adoptive older brother, and his fists were clenched up into tight balls. He so badly wanted to do something to drive this evil man off of the balcony and away from his brother and the other Kage's, but in this instance, there was nothing he could do. Should he try anything at all by so much as attempting one jutsu, the snake could retaliate by either killing one of the Kage's or one of the innocent Honorable Family members beside him. If Chojuro and Ao were in any condition to fight right now, they might have had a chance, but sadly, that wasn't the case. There was nothing more he could do other than just glare at Orochimaru and hope like hell that Naruto and the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces would come up to rescue them all before something really bad happened.

"You must be Killer Bee, the Raikage's brother," Orochimaru mused. "You seem to be quite the rhyming freak."

"Yo, I'm no freak! I'm going to be the world's greatest rapper, ya fool!"

This time, Orochimaru chose to ignore him, not interested at all in the peculiar Kumo ninja. He instead focused his attention on the next Kage, Onoki.

"Lord Tsuchikage? I'm surprised that you are still the leader of Iwagakure. I would have thought that your age and lower back pains would have finally caught up with you by now."

Onoki looked somewhat miffed, but he kept his temper in check. "Bah! I may not be as young as I used to be, Orochimaru, but I'm still leaps and bounds far better than you!" he spat in disgust.

Orochimaru was not at all put off by the proud words. He merely chuckled, and then turned to glance back over at the Honorable Families. At Kurotsuchi in particular.

"I highly doubt that, Lord Tsuchikage, you cannot deny that your genes are not that great at all. No male heir whatsoever. Just a young granddaughter that will never be able to surpass you as a ninja due to her gender…"

Kurotsuchi's face hardened in pure disgust, but kept her words at a level tone. "I may be the only child of my grandfather's son who has long since passed due to the previous war, but I know my grandfather is proud to have me as his heir!" she declared. "There is more to this world than simple outward appearances! There is also strength of both heart and mind!"

"Well said, Kurotsuchi. Well said…" Onoki said with a proud smile.

"Damn right it's well said! None of us are the slightest bit intimidated by you, you slimy snake!"

All heads turned to look over at Temari. Her face did not show anything at all that resembled fear. If anything, she looked livid, and her stony eyes were locked solely on Orochimaru. If looks alone could kill, Orochimaru would be dead three times over by her glare alone.

Orochimaru actually appeared amused as he studied the tomboy Kage princess. "Oh, you must be the Sunaese Princess Temari, the Kazekage's daughter…" he said in a rather sinister manner. "Such a peculiar girl you are… Not only are you an embarrassment and set a poor example as a Kage Princess with your brash personality, but you, a girl, are the Kazekage's eldest child. It's truly a shame that your two brothers aren't up here, too. They would have been more of a challenge to bring up here, especially since they are the ones who have the better claim of being your father's heir since they're both boys rather than you do, even though you are the firstborn."

"That is enough, Orochimaru. Leave my daughter alone."

Both Temari and Orochimaru blinked at this statement, and they turned their attention toward Rasa. Rasa was actively glaring at the snake summoner, silently warning him of all the pain he would experience if he did not leave Temari alone now.

"I am confused, Lord Kazekage. I was always told that you never liked any of your children."

Rasa's eyes turned stone cold. "I will not deny that I am not the best father in the world, but I will not allow you to harm my daughter. Take one step in her direction and you are a dead man walking."

Temari was honestly astounded by this show of parenting from her generally cold father, but she did not have any time to mull over it, as Orochimaru was already replying to her father's words.

"How interesting to know that you do actually care about your children, but do not fret, Lord Kazekage. Your daughter is currently of little interest to me. It is this man—" his head turned sharply toward the Hokage, Hiruzen "—that I really wish to speak with."

Hiruzen outwardly appeared to be as strong as a stone pillar as Orochimaru approached him, but the wise Hokage was completely aware of every movement that the snake-like man made as he prowled around him, from every footstep to every intake of breath.

"Sarutobi-sensei, it has been a long time…"

Hiruzen merely frowned in response to the snake traitor's words. "Not long enough, Orochimaru."

"Why, if I were not mistaken, I would say that you were not happy to see your old student, sensei!"

"You are no longer my student, Snake. You are a traitor to the Land of Fire and an S-rank missing nin. You have no place here, nor in all of the unified Japan."

"You still don't recognize my full potential; do you, Sarutobi-sensei? You always did favor Jiraiya… or are you perhaps still upset about what I did to your son at the Great Wall while invading the country?"

It took every ounce of willpower that Hiruzen Sarutobi possessed in order to not show any outward emotion to that statement, especially when he heard the members of his family behind him either gasp in horror or growl angrily at the low blow.

"My son Asuma," Hiruzen firmly declared, "was a true Konoha shinobi, and he died an honorable death in battle. Say what you will about him, Orochimaru, but he will always be remembered as the brave ninja who warned the country about your invasion. He will always be regarded as a hero."

Orochimaru was not pleased by the dignified response. He opened his mouth to try again at unnerving his old sensei, but a sudden cry echoed through the air.

A baby's cry.

Everyone immediately turned to look over at Lady Kurenai, who was desperately trying to shush her infant daughter in her arms as quickly as she could.

"Mirai! Mirai! Shh! Shh! It's okay, sweetheart! It's okay…!"

Mirai's baby wails quieted down after a few moments after hearing the loving murmurs her mother whispered to her, but unfortunately, her crying had succeeded in attracting the attention of Orochimaru, who looked most pleased to see the widowed mother and the little baby.

He wickedly grinned as he momentarily moved away from the Four Kage's and the Kage Regent so as to saunter right up to Lady Kurenai. "I take it you are Lady Kurenai, Sarutobi-sensei's daughter-in-law," he said with fake politeness. "And what a cute child you have! Mirai, is it? What a joy! At least you have something left of your husband to treasure…"

Kurenai said nothing in reply. She just clutched her infant daughter close to her chest as she stood in front of the infamous ninja. She was terrified, but she forced herself to try and appear as strong as the Kage Princesses Kurotsuchi and Temari. This man had killed her husband. She would die first before she allowed him to harm her baby.

"Oh? Will you not let me take a closer look?" Orochimaru whispered, taking another step forward so as to try and see little Mirai's face. "I never realized women could be so rude before tonight! Well, I suppose I'll have to help myself then…"

"S-Stay away from me and my daughter!" Kurenai snapped, her words trembling a bit, but still very strong. "Don't come any closer to us!"

Orochimaru ignored her words, and took another gigantic step forward to still try and see little Mirai's face. "Now, now, Lady Kurenai… Surely you are kind enough to—"

 _Zing!_

A single kunai flew through the air, and became embedded in the wood of the pillar only a few inches away from Orochimaru's head.

"The next one won't miss! Get away from my aunt and baby cousin!"

Everyone stared in shock at the brave young boy Konohamaru. He was growling threateningly at Orochimaru as he slowly drew a second kunai with his still working arm from the weapons pouch on his leg which had been hidden from view due to his formal black yukata. It didn't matter to the small twelve-year-old that throwing a kunai like that at a ninja who could easily end his life with a simple snap of his fingers was a stupid move or that he currently had a broken arm and couldn't even fight at the full strength of a mere Imperial City Academy student. It seemed as though to him that no one else up here had the guts to try and stand up and fight against this bastard. If no one else was going to step forward and protect them all from Orochimaru, then he would, and he would start by protecting his Aunt Kurenai and new cousin Mirai!

"Konohamaru!" Sakura exclaimed in horror. She seized the kunai he had been aiming to throw again at Orochimaru right from his hand, and tossed it harmlessly off to the side before seizing hold of his good arm and dragging him close to her. As soon as she was one hundred percent positive that her little brother wouldn't try to break away from her to attack the snake summoner a second time, Sakura glared hatefully at Orochimaru. She was the big sister. She would a die a thousand times over before anything happened to her precious little brother.

Orochimaru's face twisted into a malevolent sneer when he saw the two other Sarutobi grandchildren, and he left Lady Kurenai alone so as to walk closer and scrutinize them. "You two must be my old sensei's other grandchildren. Konohamaru and Sakura. My, my, Sarutobi-sensei! Your granddaughter is quite the beautiful young lady! If it weren't for the fact that she chooses to disgrace herself everyday by thinking she's as good as any man by electing to study medical ninjutsus, I'd say that there would be no shortage of men lining up to claim her to be their bride!"

Sakura's cheeks flushed bright red in both humiliation and fury, but before she could so much as open her mouth to shoot back a witty retort, Orochimaru's attention shifted to that of Konohamaru, and she instead focused on trying to shield her little brother from the snake summoner's line of sight.

"And this young boy… he looks just like you did when you were younger, Sensei! Spiky brown hair and coal black eyes! He's a spirited lad! I don't think I've ever met a child who would actively try to fight me while knowing full well who I am, and while injured, no less! Ah, yes… how very intriguing…"

Both Sakura and Konohamaru completely froze as the snake traitor crept closer and closer to them, but then another body suddenly wedged itself between them and Orochimaru, keeping them both hidden from view.

"Orochimaru… you have murdered my brother in cold blood and for that I shall never forgive you, but should you so much as harm one hair on my children's heads or even look the wrong way at my sister-in-law and new niece, you shall not die by ninja hands. You shall die by mine!"

Lady Tsunade was the epitome of a modern woman, and had no problem at all with being the one person there to actively poke her finger directly into Orochimaru's chest to make sure to emphasize her words. Unlike everyone else here who had never personally met the snake-like man before, with the obvious exception of her father, Tsunade had personally known Orochimaru while growing up as he had been her father's student. She was not at all intimidated by him, and even though he might want her father's head on a spike, she would die to protect her family. So long as she lived and breathed, nothing would happen to her children or her late brother's family.

"Why, Tsunade! It has been far too long! You have certainly become quite the beautiful woman! You don't look a day over twenty! Such a shame about your husband though… dying in the last war and leaving you to bring up your two children all alone…"

"Cut the crap, Orochimaru. You do not frighten me. You are still the same arrogant man you were back when we were children. If you value your life, you would stop this madness now and leave the city while you still can."

"You say one thing, but it's clear you mean another. I know you must be absolutely terrified right now, Tsunade. I'm sure you must be mentally praying to every god and spirit you know of for a miracle to happen so that I will spare your children… Well, I cannot promise you whether or not they will leave this balcony with their heads still on their shoulders by the time this night is over."

"Leave them alone, Orochimaru. It is me you want."

Hiruzen's words definitely caught Orochimaru's attention, and his snake-like forked tongue smacked the sides of his lips as he turned away from Tsunade and the other members of the Sarutobi clan so as to walk back up to his old sensei once again.

"Oh? And how can you be so sure what it is that I want, Sensei?" he hissed.

"Your quarrel is with me, the other three Kage's, and the Lady Regent," Hiruzen replied calmly. "Lady Mei's bodyguards and our family members have nothing to do with this."

Orochimaru started cackling in amusement.

"Wrong, Sensei. My quarrel is with all of you."

With another slight chuckle, the infamous snake traitor slowly began circling the five leaders standing side-by-side together right in front of the edge of the balcony. None of the Kage's showed any trace of fear on their faces and simply stared straight ahead at the people down below. No matter what Orochimaru might say or do, they would not falter. They needed a miracle to get them and their families out of this mess. They could only hope that Naruto and the rest of the ninjas in the Allied Shinobi Forces would show up in time. Until then, all they could was wait here on this balcony and hope for the best…

"Your walls and armies have fallen… and now it's your turn," Orochimaru hissed. "All five of you… bow to me!"


	9. The Strength of a Woman

**Wow... What a chapter... It's well written, I know, and I am very proud of it, but man was it draining to write. This climatic battle between Hinata and Orochimaru was something that I was looking forward to writing since I first started writing this story, but the second I tried to start writing it, it felt like I could never get what I wanted to say sound _just_ right. I'm hoping that the battle seems good to all of you, my dear readers. I mean, I personally think it's good, but it's your opinions that really matter. You all are the one's who have been looking forward to this chapter, after all! :)**

 **Now, onto other important matters.**

 **The first thing is, I may be taking a short break from writing. Before all of you freak out and start demanding that I keep my general weekly quota, allow me to explain. This is my last week in college, and I have college finals that I need to study for, but right after finals end, I'm going to be going on vacation. It will only be for about a week or two, and considering that I've been working so hard in between college to post the chapters for this story every single week since the end of March and all the while mourning for my little Cupid, I think I have more than earned the right to ask all of you to please be patient for a few weeks while I enjoy my vacation with my family. I was hoping I could finish writing the story before my family trip so I wouldn't have to ask all of you this, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. Please, just be patient for a few weeks! The next chapter will be posted as soon as I get back from vacation!**

 **Now, I would like to speak directly to reviewer ForsakenMythr2012:**

 **I recall you asked me in your review about whether or not I am planning a sequel to this story. To be honest with you, I actually haven't decided yet, and let me explain why. For starters, I have another fanfiction series that I write on here called Liberty Belle in the Captain America fandom that I haven't worked on in awhile, and my fans are getting annoyed with me that I have been working solely on this and not at all on that, and I promised a number of them that as soon as I was done with this story, I would focus my attention back on that series. I also particularly do not like the Mulan sequel. That was actually an embarrassment to the Disney franchise, in my opinion, and even when it first came out back when I was a kid, I hated it. That's not to say that I won't do it eventually down the line, though. In case I ever do end up writing it later on, I've already set up a number of things that I would like to include in it later on. It may happen, or it may not. I really can't give you a definite answer about it. I'm sorry! :(**

 **If any of you have been rereading previous chapters, you will notice that for every chapter except the last chapter, Silken Danser has finally betaed! This chapter is currently unbetaed, though, but she'll get to me with her critiques for this chapter and Chapter Eight very soon! Just be patient, please!**

 **Also, to those of you who were kind enough to notice, there is a new cover image for this story! It is a beautiful fan art drawn by my long term friend on here windstruck07! Windstruck07, if you're reading this right now, I just wanted to tell you** **thanks** **again for drawing this amazing cover art! It is really so beautiful! Thank you so much!**

 **Now, it's everyone's favorite time again! It's time to thank the 21 people who wrote such kind and thoughtful reviews for the last chapter!**

 **\- blukmage19r2**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- rk-tronix**

 **\- Cloud4012**

 **\- catchthecat**

 **\- Artistry101**

 **\- qyu**

 **\- SpeedTheCollapse1**

 **\- ForsakenMythr2012**

 **\- Guest (x3) (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- NH SHIPPER (x2)**

 **\- hinataellis**

 **\- naruhinakiralacus**

 **\- gio08**

 **\- Rogue390**

 **\- Kakau**

 **\- Miss Rizz**

 **\- AnimeLover72636**

 **Thank you all so much for your kind reviews! They mean everything to me! If you can, can you review again for this chapter? I'm hoping that maybe this story can break 200 reviews by the time the final chapter is posted, so please people! When you're done reading, write a two second message in the review box! Review! Review!**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit.**

 **Please, remember to review when you're done reading. While I was honest with all of you when saying that the next chapter probably won't be out until after my vacation, I do want you all to remember that reviews fuel my creative juices! If you want the chapter to be posted as soon as I get back, please review! They encourage me to write! :)**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 6/20/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: The Strength of a Woman**

"Damn… why must it take women ages to get dressed?"

"Patience is a virtue, Kiba. Hinata has only been in that closet for a few minutes."

"Oh, come on, Shino! It took Lee less than a minute to throw that kimono on over his usual clothes! I don't care if we all thought Hinata was a guy for the past few months! The second she becomes a girl again, she spends just as long as any other woman does while getting dressed!"

"I gotta agree with Kiba here. Waiting is troublesome…"

"Troublesome or not, Nara, we must wait for her. This entire plan is Hinata's idea. We cannot go on ahead without her."

"Yeah, yeah, I know Gaara…"

The small party of infiltrating men had been waiting for Hinata to come out of the closet for nearly ten minutes now. They initially hadn't minded waiting for her, as they had been too preoccupied with teasing the red-faced Lee as he shrugged on the green kimono Hinata had given to him, and then Kankuro had had the wicked idea of rummaging through his older sister's make-up box to add a little bit of extra oomph into the disguise, as the bushy eyebrows alone clued in that Lee was still a boy rather than a girl even while wearing the kimono. The group had been a little stumped on what to do with his bowl-cut hairstyle though for a few minutes, until Choji had discovered a green hat inside one of the drawers of the dresser. It was thrown onto Lee's head abruptly, and they could all only hope that the Sound ninjas would simply assume that all of his 'feminine' hair was knotted up in a bun and hidden underneath the hat.

All in all, the impromptu disguise looked very good. If one didn't know better, they could easily mistake him for a girl just at a quick glance.

He was set, so all that was left to do was have Kiba, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro use the Transformation Jutsu to temporarily look like innocent young noblewomen too, and wait for Hinata to finish changing into a kimono of her own.

Naruto had been all but ignoring the pointless bickering. He had too many thoughts swirling about inside his head. He knew Hinata's plan was a good one, but she thought it would be best for him to fight one-on-one with Orochimaru. Granted, she was quite right with thinking that he was probably the only one strong enough among all his friends to fight and actually have a chance at beating the snake summoner, but the one thing she probably hadn't thought of when coming up with her plan was his personal feelings toward Orochimaru. That bastard had been responsible for the deaths of his father and godfather, not to mention the death of his best friend Sasuke's older brother Itachi. He had to try and put his rage-filled feelings aside so as to be able to fight him with a level head later on.

Then there was everything involved with Hinata herself. When it came to her… he wasn't quite sure what to think. Part of him was still somewhat upset with her for lying to him and everyone else for the past few months, but still, he couldn't deny that her reasons were just for doing what she did. But in addition to that, there was also that matter with how he felt about her. She made him feel a huge range of emotions. The annoyance and anger over her deceit was definitely a major player, but then there was also the feelings of joy whenever he compared her to the little girl he had given his red scarf to back when he was a child. He also felt compassion, because even though she was a woman, she was still 'Hiro' too, and 'Hiro' had been his friend. When he added all these feelings together though, he wasn't quite sure what to think. It just made him feel so confused.

"If you all have enough time to bicker, you should really be considering what you want your Transformations into women to look like," Sasuke said with a somewhat bored voice. "Hinata will be out any minute now, and when she does, you all will have to transform quickly so that we can all hurry."

Choji looked somewhat annoyed. "Of course we've already thought about that! What do you take us for?! Idiots?!"

"No," Sasuke replied with a slight smirk. "Just reckless and immature."

Kankuro glared at the Uchiha heir. "Look here, you bastard! I—"

The doors to the Princess Temari's private closet slowly opened, and everyone immediately piped down and turned to look over at Hinata as she quietly exited the small space, but when they finally saw her, they all had to blink twice to make sure that it was really her they were looking at.

Instead of wearing her father's flak jacket and chainmail armor, her cousin Neji's baggy clothes, or her Konoha forehead protector, the young heiress had elected to wear a loose and airy formal kimono with a bright red sash tied around her waist. Due to the gown being a mixed blend of colors in the color spectrum between dark blue to a dark purple, the colors complimented each other perfectly, highlighting her long indigo-colored straight hair quite well, which was currently framing her face and falling gently around her petite shoulders. A single red flower was in her hair, tucked behind one of her ears to keep her hair somewhat out of her face. Shiny red thread had been weaved into the silk fabric of the kimono, creating small patterns of beautiful exotic red flowers that were of various shapes and sizes and were splayed out all over the gown, matching the red sash around her waist perfectly. Overall, the dark colors of the gown made her skin look as white and beautiful as pure porcelain, and the light pink blush on both of her cheeks matched the splashes of red in the outfit, too.

For several moments, no one dared to speak. They just simply stared at her.

Hinata's face flushed an even deeper shade of red when she realized no one had any intentions of saying anything. She was embarrassed by the way they had all dropped everything and were simply staring at her.

"Um… so how do I look?" she asked somewhat shyly.

No one answered her. They just continued to stare at her.

Hinata fought the urge to sadly sigh. She knew she wasn't much to look at, but she had never once thought that she was downright ugly… That was surely the reason why no one was saying anything.

"I'm s-sorry I took so long… It took me awhile to find a gown that would fit me…"

It was so quiet, one could hear a pin drop if they listened closely enough.

"Does it not look good…?"

Silence still reigned throughout the bedroom.

"It doesn't, does it? I… I understand… It's n-no big deal. I'll just find something else to wear…"

She sadly turned away as she moved to head back into the closet while fighting the urge to cry, but Kiba's loud voice quickly stopped her.

"What the hell are you talking about?! You look amazing!"

Hinata blinked and turned back around. The dumbstruck looks on almost everyone's faces had morphed into kind smiles and, in the case of Kankuro, a teasing smirk.

"W-What…?"

"Exactly as Kiba said, Hinata. You indeed look lovely," said Shino with a small smile.

Hinata's cheeks flared an even brighter shade of red at hearing the compliment. "I… I do?"

"We wouldn't lie! You really do look pretty!" Choji exclaimed.

"Indeed! You are the most exquisite flower that the flames of youth thrive around!" Lee said wholeheartedly.

"Damn… I guess we just never realized that you actually were a girl… That's why we were so surprised…" Kankuro commented with a low whistle.

Hinata's embarrassment died away as a puzzled look spread across her face. "Pardon?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

"What Kankuro means is that we knew you were a girl, but we were all still so used to thinking of you as 'Hiro' that we never considered what you, Hinata, look like when you dress in normal feminine clothing," Gaara explained. "We all apologize if we offended you in any way."

"Oh, I see…" Hinata said, her blush quickly returning to her cheeks.

"Hn. I don't give out compliments too often, so listen well because I'm not gonna repeat myself," Sasuke said with a small smirk. "You look nice."

"T-Thank you, Sasuke…"

"Huh… I never realized the troublesome woman had a kimono like that stashed away in her closet. I've never seen it before," Shikamaru noted.

"It was tucked away f-far in the back. I almost didn't see it. It… It was the only one that fit me."

"Well in any case, you look good, Hinata. Definitely look like a visiting noblewoman of some sort… Although I guess in your case that's really true, considering you're the Hyuuga heiress."

"That's very kind of you to say, Shikamaru."

The entire time all this was said, Naruto didn't break out of his stunned daze as he continued to stare at Hinata. When he first found out that she was really a girl, he had been so angry with her and hurt by her deception, that other than getting a bit embarrassed when he accidentally caught a full view of her chest, he only took note of the fact that 'Hiro' was actually a girl because he realized that she was a liar. Just like Gaara and Kankuro had said, he hadn't really stopped and thought about what she must be like when she simply acted like a girl again. So now, staring at her as he was when she looked so pretty in that kimono… it was a shock. A pleasant shock, actually. His heart was pounding in his chest as he felt the heat rise in his cheeks. Was he blushing…?

It was Sasuke who snapped him out of his shock.

"Yo, Loser. Aren't you going to say anything?"

Naruto jumped a bit and quickly nodded. "Uh, right! Hinata… um…"

Hinata shyly turned to face him with a blush of her own on her face. She hoped he would also give her a compliment. What the others had just said to her, that she looked nice was fine and all, but hearing it from him, the one she was in love with, would mean a lot more to her than what the others had just said. She desperately hoped he would say something kind!

For a few more seconds, Naruto still didn't say anything. He just stood there in front of her as he tried to make the red tinge in his cheeks die away. Finally, he opened his mouth to say that he too thought that she looked very nice, but then he took a good look at the sash on her waist, and he said something really dumb instead.

"Where's your obi? Why do you have that red scarf around your waist?"

The others blinked at the random words, but then what he said sunk in, and they all glanced back over at Hinata to take a second look at the obi around her waist. Sure enough, Hinata was not wearing a traditional red obi. Instead, she had her red scarf tied around her waist in its place. It still matched the outfit, but it was highly unusual that she was choosing to wear that in place of an obi.

Hinata's cheeks became an even darker shade of red from embarrassment, and she timidly looked away. "I… I told you before… This was the only k-kimono that fit me, but… but I couldn't find a red obi inside. I had t-to improvise…"

"Sis must be wearing her one red obi right now," Kankuro muttered with a shrug. "Well, whatever. It's no big deal. You'll still pass as harmless when we approach the Sound Ninjas."

"Okay, thank you Kankuro…"

Hinata was a little hurt that Naruto hadn't given her any sort of a compliment, but she literally had to force herself to lock those sad feeling away in the deepest recesses of her heart. There was much more at stake right now than her personal feelings for the blonde-haired Namikaze Captain. The lives of all the Kage's, the Honorable Families, and the fate of all of Japan were hanging in the balance right now. She had to stay absolutely focused!

"Well, if Lee and I are r-ready, there's only one thing left to do," Hinata declared, turning to face Kiba, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro. "You… You all need to Transform into girls yourselves…"

The other boys immediately cringed.

"Aw, man… do we have to?" Kiba whined. "Can't we just let you and Lee take care of all the Sound bodyguards?"

"I'm with Kiba," Choji groaned. "This will be so degrading…"

"It would be very unyouthful of all of you to go back on your words," Lee commented with a disapproving look. "You all agreed to go along with Hinata's plan. It is very unbecoming of all of you to second guess her now."

"Hn. Lee is right," Sasuke said. "You all need to do this. I'm sure it won't be fun, but this plan is the best plan we have. Get to it."

The three Konoha shinobi and the one Suna shinobi all grumbled in response, and begrudgingly brought their hands together to form the three necessary hand seals of dog, boar, and ram.

"Transform!" they all shouted together.

There were four identical puffs of smoke, and when they all cleared away, there were four pretty girls standing in the place of Kiba, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro.

As a girl, Kiba still possessed thick dark brown hair, but instead of it being cut short and messy, it was long enough to reach his waist and was tied back in a high ponytail. He wore a long-sleeved black kimono similar to the black leather jacket he generally wore on a daily basis, and he still had two red facial marks on his face to show that he was a member of his particular clan. Akamaru blinked twice when he saw his master transform into this feminine version of himself, but then ran up and started wagging his tail and he nudged his head against Kiba's leg through the kimono. The girl-Kiba now possessed a feminine voice as part of the side effects of the Transformation Jutsu, but he made a very guy-like snort in obvious amusement as he began gently scratching his lifelong friend behind the ears.

Even as a girl, Choji was still much bigger than his comrades. His pink swirl marks were still on both of his cheeks, but instead of his brown hair being all spiky and reaching his waist, it was straight and smooth and cut to reach his shoulders. His kimono was bright red, and he seemed most displeased by the fact that he was still heavier than the rest of his friends even while temporarily disguising himself as a girl.

Shino still looked as mysterious as ever, even while as a girl. When the smoke cleared away, it was revealed that he was still very tall, but his bushy brown female hair had been pinned back into an elegant bun, and he still chose to wear a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes. His fair colored skin still suited him in this temporary gender swap of himself, but instead of wearing his trademark dark green jacket, he wore a kimono that was of the exact same shade of green, and he was starting to whisper to the bugs that were still crawling around his hands that they hide for a awhile, at least until it was time to fight. Should the Sound shinobi see them on him before they could launch their sneak attack, they might guess that they were really ninjas in the Allied Shinobi Forces, and the whole plan would be spoiled.

Kankuro the puppeteer was no different in his disguise, choosing to look as similar to his original self as possible while performing this deception. The black hood with his Suna forehead protector attached that he generally wore was gone, and his usually unmanageable mop of thick brown hair was sleek and shiny as it fell freely down his shoulders to reach his mid-back. His kimono was pure black and similar to the one his sister would normally wear while out in public, and instead of having purple face paint applied to his face, he had vividly bright purple eye shadow dusting over both of his eyes.

They were all dressed up like girls just as Lee was, and they all mimicked his current disgruntled expression as they examined their new feminine selves in the nearby mirror.

"Damn… I just wanted to look similar to myself, only with long hair. I never wanted to look like my stupid older sister!"

"Yeah, well sister or not, Kiba, at least you look nice as a girl. I was trying to minimize my size for once. I'm still as big boned as ever!"

"We will not look like this forever. This is only temporary. Although, I do say that this change is perfect for Kankuro. Now he actually looks like a girl."

"Shino is correct. Now you can wear all the make-up you want, Brother."

"Fuck you, Shino, Gaara! What I wear every day is face paint, not make-up! There's a difference!"

Seeing her male friends dressed up as girls like this had to be the most bizarre situation that Hinata had ever been in, but at the same time, it was definitely one of the funniest situations, too. Hinata had to hold her hand up against her mouth to try and muffle her giggles as she watched her friends bicker back and forth with one another while wearing kimonos, but she wasn't quiet enough, and she soon garnered the attention of the others once again.

"Hey! Don't laugh at us!" Kankuro snapped, looking quite indignant.

"I… I'm s-sorry Kankuro… It's just funny seeing you all dressed up like this, is all."

"Still, this isn't funny to us," Shino said, his feminine eyes peering over the tops of his black sunglasses to give her a disapproving look. "It feels as though you are humiliating us."

"I agree with them, Hinata. It is not very youthful of you to be laughing at us like this," Lee said with a rather sad look.

"I… I know that, Shino, Lee, it's just… it's just that you all remind me of me, is all…"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?" Kiba asked with a raised brow.

"I wasn't always h-happy about cross dressing as a boy for the past few months, and you all would… would occasionally laugh at me whenever I got overly embarrassed. So… So I g-guess this is almost like a type of karma towards all of you, now…"

There was a definite pause as everyone there considered this, which was soon broken by Choji. "She has a point, you know. This most likely is some type of karma to the five of us. Probably because we were all jerks toward her at the beginning of training…"

"Aw, damn it! I don't suppose it's not too late to apologize to you again for how we all acted toward you back then, is it?" Kiba wondered.

"I… I've already forgiven all of you for back then. I just had that thought and c-couldn't help but find it funny, that's all…"

"Well, whatever… Can we just get going? The sooner we rescue the Kage's and the Honorable Families, the sooner we can get out of these stupid outfits!" Kankuro grumbled.

Sasuke smirked, seemingly amused by what he was witnessing, but he nonetheless nodded and turned toward Naruto.

"He's right, Naruto. We should get going."

"Wait!"

Everyone turned to look back at Hinata, but she was looking solely at Kankuro and Gaara.

"Does… Does your sister have any hand fans? If we're p-pretending to be noblewomen, we should have some fans. My mother always instilled in me since I was little that… that if I was ever going to a formal event, I should carry a hand fan."

Gaara wordlessly turned toward the vanity table, and opened a small wooden box lying on top of it. He pulled out a variety of folded up fans.

"Our sister loves hand fans. It's the one type of accessory that she actually likes."

"Go ahead and take one," Kankuro muttered with a shrug, already perusing through the box until he found a fan he favored that matched his kimono. "If Big Sis is already going to be pissed at the two of us for letting you and Lee borrow her kimonos, I doubt she'll get any angrier if we all borrow some fans. Just try to not get any blood on them when we fight. She'll for sure flip out if that happens…"

Hinata, Kiba, Choji, Lee, and Shino all nodded, and they stepped forward to look through the small box to find fans that matched their outfits. Hinata personally chose a small fan that was a mixture of both dark blue and dark purple, just like her own kimono. There was no red anywhere on the paper, but it still matched her gown quite well. She could only assume that it was overall part of the kimono dress and that the Princess Temari generally carried this fan with her whenever she chose to wear this particular kimono.

As soon as they each had a paper fan in hand which they all unfolded and began fanning themselves gently with, actually completing the overall disguise, Naruto nodded approvingly at them all.

"All right, then! Let's go!"

Everyone nodded, and they followed Naruto toward the bedroom door and exited the room out into the hall.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru had visited the Imperial Palace many times before in the past when here on either official ninja business, or alongside their parents when the Kage's and their families threw lavish galas or parties, and Gaara and Kankuro had all but grown up in the palace after the country of Japan was unified, so they all knew their way around the hallways very well. But for Hinata, Kiba, Choji, Shino, and Lee, they had never been here before, so they had no choice but to follow after the five of them as they led the way down the many winding corridors. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the palace newcomers couldn't help but look around in amazement as they followed after the palace veterans. Everything was so luxurious and decadent! Oriental furniture, crimson walls and pillars with dark wood paneling, expensive handcrafted vases and marble statues, lanterns with flames of light dancing on the walls… it all looked so traditional and elegant. Lee was the only civilian-born shinobi there, so this was his first time seeing wealth of this caliber before, but even for Hinata, Kiba, Choji, and Shino, who had all grown up in prominent clans, this outclassed anything they had ever experienced in their own clan compounds. This was truly a palace fit for Kage royalty.

Finally, Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, Kankuro, and Shikamaru all came to a halt beside the corner of the hallway they had been leading the way down, and Hinata and the others quickly stopped, too. Naruto held one finger in front of his lips to tell everyone to be quiet, and then peeked sparingly around the edge of the corner so as to carefully assess the situation at hand.

Kabuto and the Sound Four were standing watch at the doors that led to the stairs to the main balcony of the Imperial Palace. Each one of them held a kunai knife in hand as they either looked around suspiciously for any sign of Allied Ninjas rushing out from down the hall, or talked quietly amongst themselves, and making bets on how long it would take for their supreme leader to lose his temper with the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent and start taking the heads of the members of the Honorable Families so as to force the leaders of Japan to listen to his demands. Orochimaru's snake summoning was lazily lounging about on the dark wood paneling of the archway over the doors, flicking its tongue and hissing lightly at its master's subordinates. The Generals simply ignored it, knowing full well that it would not harm any of them, and just continued whispering to each other or keeping watch for any signs of enemies down the hall.

After only a few seconds' worth of appraising the situation, Naruto ducked down out of sight again and turned toward his fellow ninja comrades. "There are only five of them. If you guys play your cards right, this will be easy."

Hinata nodded in approval, and turned to face her friends. "Okay, then. Any q-questions?" she whispered.

Choji raised his hand rather uncertainly. "Um… are you all sure that this disguise doesn't make me look even fatter than normal?" he said, looking more than embarrassed.

His words earned him a small smack upside the head by Shikamaru, who actually looked seriously angry at his best friend for once.

"Ow! What was that for, Shikamaru?!"

"To snap you out of that troublesome mindset! You look fine, okay?"

"All right, all right! Sorry!" the Akimichi groaned, looking very offended.

"Both of you! Quiet! We don't want them to hear us!" Sasuke growled.

Gaara nodded in agreement, and then turned to face Hinata again. "This is your plan, Hinata. You give the order."

Hinata's face flushed bright red, but she shyly nodded, and her hand shook a bit as she unfolded her hand fan with a small flick of her wrist and began lightly fanning herself as she faced Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro with a somewhat nervous, but also determined expression.

"O-Okay, then! Let's do this!"

Her five friends all nodded excitedly as they took their hand fans out from the inner recesses of their formal kimonos and flicked them open so as to start fanning themselves, too. Lee however just held up his paper fan in front of his face so that only his eyes were seen. Since he was the only boy amongst them that was not disguising himself with a Transformation Jutsu, he stood a better chance of being recognized for his true gender than the rest of them did. It was better for him to keep as much of his face hidden as possible during the first few moments of approaching the five Sound Generals, so that they couldn't really get a good look at him.

Hinata examined all five of her friends from top to bottom, and then finally shook her head. "Wait a moment. Your postures are all wrong…"

Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro blinked at her, not understanding what she was saying. Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru just exchanged puzzled looks. What did posture have to do with anything?

"Huh?" Choji asked, sounding very confused.

Hinata turned to face him. "Y-You're all… You're all slouching. Straighten up! Noblewomen never slouch!"

The boys all grumbled at the command, but nonetheless did as she said. She might not be an overly feminine girl, but she was noble-born herself, and that made her an expert when it came to matters like this.

"Anything else?" Kankuro mumbled, sounding more than a bit annoyed by now. "Anything else you want us to do so as to ensure that this will always be remembered as the most humiliating day of our lives…?"

"Yes. Giggle."

Now everyone stared at her as if she was crazy.

"Would you mind repeating that, please?" Shino said, very slowly.

"We… We need to make it s-seem as though we're flirting with them… Giggling when we see them is a good way to do this. So… just giggle when we approach them…"

"You've got to be joking…" Kiba groaned, sounding completely exasperated.

"I'm sorry, Kiba, but it's the only w-way we can get close to them without them being overly suspicious as to why we're all stopping right in front of them…"

A very small, barely heard chuckle erupted from Gaara's throat, and everyone turned to look at him as he stared amusedly at Kankuro.

"I almost wish that I had a camera right now. Temari will be very upset that she did not get the chance to witness this."

"Gaara! I swear, if you _ever_ tell her about this, I will smash that gourd of yours into a thousand pieces!"

"Go right ahead, Kankuro. I will simply make another one with my compressed sand."

Kankuro looked as though he wanted to hit his little brother, but Hinata quickly stepped between them, trying to dissolve the tension.

"K-Kankuro, save your energy for the Sound ninjas. They're the ones that we really need to fight…"

Kankuro growled, but still begrudgingly nodded and turned his attention back to Hinata as she peeked around the corner like Naruto had done a few seconds ago to check and see whether or not the Sound Generals had possibly heard them. Luckily, it seemed as though they still didn't suspect that they were here. She gazed back over her shoulder, and gestured for her friends to follow her.

"Come on!" she whispered.

The four Konoha shinobi and the one Suna shinobi all shuddered for a moment at the thought of what they were about to do, but nonetheless nodded and followed confidently after Hinata as she purposefully walked around the corner and fanned herself with her hand fan, acting as though nothing was wrong. As soon as all five of them were around the corner and had a clear view of the Sound Generals, they all began to giggle in high-pitched, feminine voices and began whispering nonsensical words under their breath to one another behind their fans as they slowly walked up to the Sound ninjas.

The five Generals heard them all giggling and whispering to each other as they approached, and their heads all whipped around in alarm as they readied their weapons. "Who's there?!" Kabuto called out threateningly.

Hinata and the others didn't actually say anything in response. They just pretended to giggle harder than ever behind their little hand fans as they walked even closer. The only thing that almost blew their cover was when Lee accidentally tripped on the hem of his green kimono and almost fell over. He managed to regain his balance after a half-second delay, and kept his smile on his face as he followed his friends. They had already been seen by the Sound shinobi. They couldn't back out of this now. There was no going back.

Upon seeing the small group of seemingly harmless young 'ladies' walking up to them, the conjoined twins Sakon and Ukon began to speak to one another.

"Who are they?" said Sakon with a growl.

"Just some noblemen's daughters," Ukon replied, making a half-shrug.

"They're not just any noblemen's daughters," Jirobo interjected, closely examining Hinata, Kiba, Choji, and Shino as the group drew even closer to them. "Four of them are from prominent ninja clans. That's a Hyuuga, an Inuzuka, an Akimichi, and I think those sunglasses means that that one's an Aburame. Not sure about the other two, though…"

Tayuya's brows furrowed suspiciously, and he called warningly at the disguised ninjas when they were all less than two yards away. "Oi! What are you all doing here?!"

The men-disguised-as-women all began to sweat a bit, not quite sure how to act all girly and flirty in this type of situation, and that therefore left it up to Hinata to take charge. She was most definitely not an outgoing person, and had never really flirted with a boy before in her entire life. She could only mentally pray that this act would at least come off as passable to the Sound shinobi in front of them.

"We were simply curious about all of you. F-Foreign shinobi… the mere thought is intriguing…"

Hinata's cheeks were on fire for saying something like that. In truth, not only was that embarrassing for the shy young girl to ever consider saying out loud, but it also made her sick to act all giggly at the five men who were all right behind Orochimaru. They had not only caused all the deaths of the main troops of the Allied Shinobi Forces, including Naruto's father and godfather and Sasuke's older brother, but they had also happily destroyed that innocent town of civilians, and one such civilian was the body of that poor little girl she'd found in the ruins of her house. These men were at their very roots evil, and it was actually disgusting to her to pretend to be entranced by them. Still, she had to force away her feelings of embarrassment and disgust. The entire country was resting on the shoulders of her and her friends, and because her friends didn't know how to react in this situation, she unfortunately had to be the one to try and entice these five men.

The pervert Kidomaru eerily grinned. "Oh, is that so? Tell me then, do you all like what you see?"

Tayuya shot him a pointed look. "We don't have time to flirt with them, Kidomaru! We're supposed to be minding the door for Orochimaru!"

"Quit being so overdramatic, Tayuya! There's always time to flirt with women! And besides, just look at them! They're harmless! Hey, Inuzuka girl!" he said to Kiba, who quickly snapped to attention when he was called out directly. "What do you think of me? Sure, I've got a lot of hands, but that just makes the foreplay twice as good."

It took all the willpower Kiba possessed to not openly barf at that statement. Now being on the receiving spectrum of crummy pick-up lines, he was starting to see just why Hinata had been so uncomfortable during the talk about girls on the way up the mountain to the front lines of the war. He said the first flirty female thing that popped into his head.

"You're so cute!"

Back behind the corner where Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru were carefully watching all of this happen, Naruto literally had to slap his hand over his mouth to suppress his amused snort from witnessing all of this.

"This is too rich!" he chuckled.

While his three friends personally agreed with him that this entire situation was downright hilarious, they all quickly shushed him to be quiet. If he kept talking and laughing loudly like that, this whole plan would go up in flames before the others could launch the sneak attack.

Unfortunately, the quick moment of silently shushing the amused Captain that had just transpired beyond the hallway corner did not go unnoticed. Above the archway of the doors that led out toward the main balcony in front of the palace, Orochimaru's personal snake summoning saw the flash of movement the others made from the very corner of its beady yellow eyes.

The snake's eyes narrowed when it saw the four of them huddling together almost completely out of sight of the rest of the Sound ninjas. This was all just a trap! The snake didn't know what this whole business was with using these girls to talk and flirt with its master's leading Generals, but the snake knew that if it didn't alert the Sound shinobi below it of the four Allied ninjas that were all hiding behind the corner, they stood a good chance at beating the Generals and then going after its master!

The snake opened its mouth to start hissing and spitting as loudly as it could in order to get the attention of at least one of the Sound Generals, but at that moment, something furry and orange and white leapt out from seemingly nowhere in the shadows of the rafters in the ceiling, and bit and scratched down hard on its scaly reptilian hide. The snake wanted to screech in pain from the surprise attack, but the second that the mysterious orange creature bit down on him, the creature had successfully overpowered him, and the snake had no choice but to poof away back to the summoning world and return to its home at the Ryuuchi Cave so as to recover from the bite and claw marks that were heavily bleeding out on its back. It could only hope that its summoner, the great Orochimaru, would be able to succeed in his dream of conquering all of Japan even without its help.

As soon as the snake was gone, the orange and white creature, a certain orange furry fox possessing nine distinct tails, with a tiny white bunny sitting on top of its head, began to chuckle in amusement. Just as Hinata had suggested back when she had been searching for a kimono to wear in the large walk-in closet in Princess Temari's bedroom, the two mischievous little creatures had been stealthily following the small band of Allied Shinobi Forces from the shadows of the palace rafters ever since they had left the bedroom. Upon noticing that the snake summoning was going to sound the alarm on the disguised ninjas, they knew that they had to intervene.

"Slithered away like a wimp! Stupid creature…" Kurama muttered.

Usagi hopped up and down on top of his head and bleated in gleeful agreement.

The ninjas down below, both Allied Shinobi Forces and Sound shinobi, were completely unaware of what had just happened directly above their heads, and Kidomaru was continuing to try and woo the mentally shuddering Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro, who were all trying to hide the fact that they were seriously disturbed that a guy was hitting on them, and the flustered but still somewhat amused Hinata, who despite knowing that this was all going according to plan, couldn't help but find this entire situation just as funny as Naruto and the others did.

"Forgive us, ladies, we've all been very rude. We have yet to ask you all for your names…"

A pleasant smile spread across Hinata's lips as she casually tucked both her hands into the sleeves of her dark kimono. "Oh, of course, sir! Our apologies for being rude and not introducing ourselves either…"

She tucked a loose strand of her indigo-colored hair behind her ear. That was the signal, and the others casually tucked their hands into the long sleeves of their gowns, too.

"You see, kind sirs, we're all not quite w-what we seem, and you're all about to find that out the hard way."

As soon as she was done speaking, each one of the 'girls' pulled several sharp kunai knives out from the inner sleeves of their kimonos, and there were several puffs of smoke as all of the others except Lee dispelled the Transformation Jutsu they had used and charged forward at the Sound shinobi, who were all bombarded by this rather sudden, unexpected turn of events.

Choji, the only person there who was physically large enough to go toe-to-toe with Jirobo, quickly challenged him.

Shino charged straight toward Kidomaru.

Kiba dashed up to the conjoined twins Sakon and Ukon. Akamaru had been hiding behind the corner with Naruto and the others, waiting for the opportune moment to jump in and help his master. With Kiba finally engaging in a fistfight with the twins, the ninja hound had no qualms whatsoever with rushing out from his hiding spot to assist his master with the double-headed freak.

Kankuro and Lee both ran right at Tayuya.

With all the boys going after the members of the Sound Four, that left Hinata alone to face off with Orochimaru's right-hand man Kabuto, a truly dangerous opponent.

Thanks to the successful launch of the sneak attack, Hinata got the first hit in by making a deep slash with her kunai against Kabuto's chest. Kabuto groaned in pain, but quickly overcame his surprise by conducting chakra to both of his hands until they glowed blue from his chakra scalpels, and then tried to land a punch on Hinata. Hinata dodged the punch and activated her Byakugan before adding chakra into the palms of her own two hands.

They were both ninjas that generally attacked others with chakra enhanced punches.

This had to be no different than it would be if she were to ever spar hand-to-hand with a fellow member of her clan in the art of the Gentle Fist.

For a few moments, Kabuto and Hinata performed a strange dance with one another. Hinata would try to strike a tenketsu point in either one of Kabuto's arms or shoulders, and Kabuto would nimbly dodge the palm strike. Then he would counterattack with a punch of his own toward Hinata's body. Hinata would then gracefully leap out of the way of the intended blow to her body, and then the process would start all over again. The entire time, Hinata was careful to try to not twist her body too much so as to not irritate her stomach injury. Her stomach burned in pain as she dodged Kabuto's attacks, but it didn't bother her as much as it would have had she simply just tried to dodge any old way regardless of her pain. She simply bit down hard on her tongue and fought on.

Both of them knew that the first person to lose their concentration and not be able to get out of the way in time would for sure be the loser. They both had to work hard to make sure that they in particular would not fail.

As Hinata fought on, Naruto watched her, seemingly mesmerized. Sure, he had seen her fight before. They had sparred on numerous occasions back at the training camp and he had even helped her out in her fight against that one Sound Ninja during the ambush back on the mountains, but that had been back when he thought she was still 'Hiro.' Naruto had known all along that although 'Hiro' lacked confidence in himself, 'he' could become a powerful shinobi indeed if he would just believe in 'his' own abilities. But seeing Hinata fight right now, looking so graceful as she nimbly dodged Kabuto's attacks while trying to land powerful attacks of her own upon him… it was something else entirely. Both sides of her ability as a ninja warrior were coming together in this battle, and for some strange reason, seeing her like this made his cheeks feel like they were literally on fire.

In order to try and turn the tide in this minor brawl, Kabuto tried to ignore one palm strike aimed at his shoulder and allowed it to hit so as to try and land a chakra enhanced punch directly at Hinata chest. If he managed to strike her chest, he could literally mess up the muscles right near her heart and force her to go right into cardiac arrest. Hinata realized that something was up the second she noticed that he was purposefully letting her attack hit him, and knew she had to do something immediately when she saw him try to aim a jab right at her ribcage.

Her hands were already in the process of trying to close tenketsu points, so they'd never be able to block the punch in time.

But her feet were currently unoccupied.

The young heiress smirked, which threw Kabuto off and momentarily slowed down his punch to her chest, and that single moment was all that Hinata needed. With a small yell of determination, the young girl launched a powerful kick right at his approaching arm, hitting him right in the elbow.

There was a loud crack as Kabuto yelled out in pain.

His arm was now fractured.

Karma truly had come back to Kabuto Yakushi ten-fold.

Just as how he had broken the young Konohamaru's arm, now his arm was broken, too.

Every action made had consequences, after all.

As Kabuto tried to get over the mind numbing pain in his arm, Hinata wasted no time. She quickly charged up a great deal of chakra into the palm of her right hand, and delivered a powerful hand thrust of her own at Kabuto's chest. Almost immediately, Kabuto started coughing up blood. Unlike the attack that Kabuto had intended to make at Hinata that would have for sure killed her, Hinata had only attacked the blood vessels in the Sound ninja's right lung. He would be coughing up blood for awhile, but provided he saw a medic-nin soon, he would live.

With the fight now over with her as the winner, the Hyuuga princess looked around. It seemed as though her friends had won their battles, too. The four other Sound Generals were all on the ground, either unconscious or physically spent as they groaned in pain, while Kiba and Akamaru, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro hovered above them.

They had defeated the ninjas guarding the doors.

The path was clear.

Naruto and the others had to go!

Hinata quickly turned to look over her shoulder at where Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru were all still hiding. "Go!" she shouted to them as Lee quickly reached into the inner folds of his borrowed green kimono and took out some chakra absorbing wire so that they could all tie the Sound Generals up.

The three army leaders and the leading army strategist didn't need to be told twice. Within seconds, they sprinted out from their hiding place around the corner and ran straight toward the large doors. The four of them threw their shoulders against them to bust the doors open, and then raced as fast as they could up the stairs.

* * *

Orochimaru was starting to get extremely pissed off. It had been over ten minutes now since he had appeared in front of the Four Kages, the Mizukage Regent, and the other hostages of the Honorable Families and Mizukage Regent's bodyguards. But despite the lapse in time, none of the Kage's showed the faintest trace of becoming frightened of him and wanting to bow down to him in order to save their lives, or the lives of their family members, or in the case of Lady Mei, her loyal bodyguards. If anything, every threat he made toward them only seemed to further drive the five leaders to remain as still and stony as statues so as to not show any fear.

The two bodyguards and the members of the Honorable Families were not being very cooperative, either. Orochimaru had wanted them all up here out of hope that they would all break down and start begging the Kage's to just do whatever he wanted so that they could all hopefully be able to leave this balcony while still in one piece, but they all seemed to be doing the exact opposite. With the obvious exception of Lady Kurenai, who had every reason to be afraid right now because her only concern at this moment was making sure that her defenseless infant daughter Mirai would be safe, every other member of the Honorable Families had seemingly gotten over the fear that they had of this horrible situation and were actively glaring at the snake traitor. Their fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and in the case of Lady Mei's bodyguards, mistress were not showing any fear of Orochimaru in front of the rest of the citizens in the Imperial City in the courtyard down below, so why should they be? Other than quietly whispering a few choice words amongst themselves here and there, they all mainly stayed silent and glared hatefully at the snake-like man. They would stay strong, no matter what!

Orochimaru was definitely losing his patience with the four men and the one woman he had been countlessly circling. Ten minutes had been more than enough time for at least one of them to submissively bow to him, say a tearful parting of some kind to their family members, or think up some type of speech to say to the people watching down below. This had gone on long enough, he decided. It was time to end this.

With a slight snarl, he drew his sword Kusanagi from his hip, and pointed it directly at the throat of the Kage that was closest to him, which coincidentally was that of his old sensei, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"The five of you have a lot of pride inside of you, but you all drive my patience!" he growled. _"Bow to me!"_

None of the Kage's moved their bodies even an inch. As the supreme leaders of Japan, or in Mei's case, the regent leader, for them to actively bow to another while in a situation like this in front of the rest of the citizens of the Imperial City meant that they were officially surrendering to Orochimaru and that he was their superior from now. They would not bow to him. They would never grant him the satisfaction or honor of seizing control of Japan with such little resistance.

The Hokage was all but the unofficial leader amongst the Four Kage and Kage Regent, and he was the first one to voice his reasons for not bowing. "No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it," he stated calmly.

"You may do whatever you wish to us, Orochimaru, but your efforts are futile," Lady Mei said matter-of-factly.

"Go fuck yourself to hell and back!" snapped Ay.

"Bah! You're nothing but a great big coward to think that holding us and our families hostage like this will make us submit to you!" Onoki growled.

"Do your worst, Snake. We shall not surrender," said Rasa with a cold glare.

Orochimaru's hauntingly yellow eyes became thin, angry slits at the insolence of the five leaders. His grip on the handle of his sword tightened as he snarled with rage. "Then you will all kneel over your families corpses!" he thundered.

He swung around to strike the nearest member of the Honorable Families with his sword, which so-happened to be Sakura, when a kunai shot through the air and struck the metal of the blade before it could harm the pretty pink-haired teen girl. Everyone quickly turned in time to see Naruto rushing up the stairs and all but throwing himself at Orochimaru to engage him in a one-on-one fight. Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru were right behind him, dashing as fast as they all could to either stand protectively in front of the members of the Honorable Families, or in front of all the Kage's.

The Kage's and all the hostages of the Honorable Families quickly moved out of the way when they realized that the fight between Naruto and Orochimaru stood a good chance of taking up the entirety of the whole area of the balcony. Even though they were all surprised by the suddenness of this apparent rescue, they didn't wish to die due to a stray jutsu or a kunai that had happened to sail way off course from its target.

As per following the guidelines of Hinata's plan, Sasuke and Shikamaru ran straight up to the members of the Honorable Families and stood in front of them protectively. The royals all blinked when they saw them, recognizing the two of them immediately.

"Sasuke!" cheered Sakura, her eyes becoming slightly starry as soon as she saw her secret love despite the seriousness of this dangerous situation.

"Lazy Ass?!" gaped Temari, truly shocked to see him. She was pleased to see her youngest brother in the background defending their father and the other leaders of the country with a wall of sand, but she hadn't expected the lazy Nara heir to be one of the rescuers.

Sasuke and Shikamaru didn't waste any time with pleasantries. They just nodded respectfully to all the members of the Honorable Families, and then began hurriedly gesturing for them to head immediately down the stairs.

"It is not safe here, sirs, madams," said Shikamaru with a small bow. "We must ask you all to hurry."

"The path down below is clear," said Sasuke, also bowing quickly. "Hurry!"

The royals didn't need to hear anything else. With Sakura, Tsunade, and Killer Bee pausing only momentarily to make sure that the injured Konohamaru, Chojuro, and Ao could lean on them for support while they got out of there, the members of the Honorable Families quickly dashed down the stairs, and Sasuke and Shikamaru kept a kunai and a sword drawn out protectively as they hurried down after them, glancing periodically over their shoulders to ensure that Orochimaru wasn't following them.

They both managed to get the Honorable Families back downstairs into the safety of the hallway, and Sasuke and Shikamaru were both pleased to discover Hinata, Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro were just about finished tying up the Sound invaders.

Immediately upon seeing Kankuro, Temari rushed forward in relief. "Kankuro!" she called out as she hugged her first younger brother tightly. The Sunaese puppeteer immediately jumped when he felt the unsuspecting arms crushing him, but upon realizing that it was only his annoying sister, he too hugged her back, relieved to see that she was safe.

"Hey, Sis."

Hinata and the others were all happy to see that the two siblings were reunited again, but upon seeing that Gaara, the Four Kage's, and the Lady Regent weren't behind them, she became worried, and immediately turned to Sasuke and Shikamaru.

"Where are the others?" she asked worriedly.

"Naruto is battling with Orochimaru. Gaara can't get the Kage's off that balcony without abandoning Naruto up there all by himself," Sasuke explained.

"I'll go up and provide backup then!" she declared. "You guys all get the Honorable Families safely outside!"

The others in the small ninja platoon stared at her.

"Alone?!" Kiba gasped.

"You're injury isn't fully healed, Hinata. You shouldn't be doing any heavy battling," Shikamaru reasoned.

"I… I won't g-get directly involved with any heavy fighting. I'll just watch over Naruto and Gaara's backs while Gaara gets the Kage's out of there. I'll leave the fighting t-to Naruto."

Shino nodded at the reasonable idea. "That's fine then," he reasoned to the others.

Even Choji nodded in agreement. "It's a good plan," he agreed.

As Sasuke was the next in charge after Naruto and Gaara, he was the one who had to concede to the idea. He paused momentarily as he mentally weighed the pros and cons in his head, but then he finally sighed in agreement.

"Join us as soon as you can," he ordered.

"Yes, Sir," Hinata said with a firm nod.

Ignoring the worried and encouraging looks from her friends and the puzzled looks from the Honorable Families who all seemed to be astounded by the fact that there was evidently a Hyuuga woman fighter amongst the rescue team that was saving them and the Kage leaders, Hinata broke away from the group and dashed as fast as she could up the stairs.

As soon as she was gone, Sasuke turned directly to the other ninjas in the group. "Squad, form a protective unit around all the members of the Honorable Families. Our task is to get them all safely out of the palace."

"Yes, Sir!" they said at once.

They all quickly drew kunais from their weapons pouches and hurried to form a defensive square around the royals before urging them to hurry behind them. The faster they could get them all safely outside where the Kage bodyguards and the rest of the ninjas in the Allied Shinobi Forces and the Imperial City ninjas were waiting and could adequately protect them from harm, the faster they could come back up here and try to help Naruto, Gaara, and Hinata.

As they ran, however, Temari suddenly leaned over and yanked hard at the tip of Kankuro's ear.

"Ow!" he groaned. "What the hell was that for, Temari?"

Temari only smiled sweetly, but still somehow eerily in return. "Baby brother, would you be kind enough to explain to me why not only was that Hyuuga girl wearing my old kimono, but also why the man next to you with the bushy eyebrows is wearing the kimono I generally wear for formal tea ceremonies?"

* * *

Gaara wanted nothing more than to assist Naruto in battling Orochimaru, but should he break his concentration for even a split second from holding up the sand wall he had set up between the minor battle and country leaders, the wall would come crumbling down, and his father, the other Kage's, and the Lady Regent would be fully exposed to danger once again. He couldn't even try to get them all out of here the way they had planned until Naruto managed to pin Orochimaru down for a moment, and judging by how he was faring against the infamous snake traitor, it didn't look like that would happen any time soon.

Naruto and Orochimaru were exchanging parrying blows with one another, Naruto's kunai against Orochimaru's sword blades. They both seemed to be evenly matched as they engaged in the taijutsu spar, but eventually, Naruto managed to land a solid kick right at the snake summoner's sternum, and Orochimaru went flying backwards and dropped the hilt of his sword as he slammed up against a red pillar right beside the edge of the balcony. He groaned slightly from the harsh blow, but he snapped out of it when he saw Naruto conjure two Shadow Clones, and they both began waving their hands sporadically over the original Naruto's open palm until they formed his favorite signature technique of a small ball composed of blue energy with the white wind blades whizzing about around it.

As soon as the bright blue orb was fully formed, the clones vanished with puffs of smoke as Naruto charged forward.

"Wind Style: Rasengan!" he shouted.

He tried to jab the powerful energy ball directly at Orochimaru's chest and kill him instantly, but the slippery ninja simply caught his wrist in his fist before the attack could land on him, and held Naruto firmly in hand as he quickly stood back up, and then proceeded to swing Naruto right over the edge of the balcony.

The crowd far down below gasped in horror when they saw the Namikaze heir become air born like that, but Naruto wasn't going to go down that easily. In a split second, he allowed the ball of energy in his right fist to die away while simultaneously conducting chakra into his left hand so as to be able to catch himself on the edge of the railing. He hung in midair for a second, no longer falling to his death, and then he pulled himself upward and jumped back up onto the balcony. Orochimaru was genuinely surprised to see him save himself like that, and was definitely unprepared for the firm kick to his face from the blonde boy as soon as he landed back onto the solid floorboards below them.

The snake traitor fell to the ground with a loud thump, and Naruto leapt onto the downed man before throwing solid punches to his now bruised face. Orochimaru growled in fury as he managed to flip Naruto over and proceeded to deliver good punches to his face instead.

Naruto spat a great deal of blood out of his mouth from his split open lip. Damn, that had hurt!

Orochimaru grinned and quickly took out a kunai to finally bring an end to the boy.

Gaara froze up completely when he saw Orochimaru draw the blade. He so badly wanted to help his childhood friend, but he couldn't just leave the Kage's completely defenseless. There was virtually nothing he could do to stop what was about to happen.

He raised the small knife high over his head so as to plunge it down fast and hard into Naruto's chest, when a second kunai flew through the air and knocked the small blade out of his hand.

Naruto, Gaara, and Orochimaru's heads all turned in time to see a certain Hyuuga girl with long indigo hair and dressed in a fancy darkly colored kimono dash as fast as she could up the last few stairs leading to where they all were on the balcony despite the pain from her stomach wound. Her Byakugan was activated, and she ran right up to the snake traitor as she aimed a powerful palm strike right at his face. Orochimaru was left with no choice but to leap backwards and off of Naruto so as to avoid the attack.

Orochimaru stared quizzically at Hinata, not understanding what was going on exactly. A Hyuuga girl? A normal Hyuuga male coming up here to try and help he would understand, but a girl? Judging by the fact that she had successfully thrown that kunai to disarm him a moment ago, he knew this girl had to have been properly trained in the shinobi ways, but why on earth would the Allied Shinobi Forces allow a girl to join the army?

The concept was completely foreign to him.

Knowing Naruto was now safe but that Orochimaru was unfortunately still alive, Hinata fell into the traditional stance of the Gentle Fist as she spoke directly to Gaara, even though her gaze remained fully locked on Orochimaru in case he tried something.

"Gaara, get the Kage's and the Lady Regent out of here! I'll stay and help Naruto!"

Gaara didn't like the idea of leaving Naruto and Hinata alone up here to deal with Orochimaru, but staying behind and helping them wasn't part of the plan. His mission was to keep the Four Kage's and the Kage Regent safe. He nodded an affirmative to the heiress's words, and quickly dispelled his shield of sand that was protecting both his father and the other Kage's.

All five leaders blinked in surprise when the sand shield came down, and they noticed the strange girl standing protectively beside the all but physically spent body of Naruto, but then they saw Gaara standing in front of them. The one Kage who was the most surprised to see the red-haired boy standing in front of him was none other than Rasa himself.

"Gaara?" he said, completely stunned that the son he had been the most horrible to between all three of his children was the one who was currently protecting him.

Gaara did not choose to grant his father any form of acknowledgement of having heard his words. He just made a quick, polite bow to him, the other Kage's, and Lady Mei. "Father, Lord Kage's, Lady Regent, my apologies in advance for this."

Before Rasa or the other leaders could question him on what he meant, the sand in the gourd attached to his back shot out from inside it, and broke away into six separate clouds. Five clouds wrapped securely around the bodies of the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent, while the sixth cloud formed into a large platform for Gaara to stand up on top of. Without a single word, the six clouds shot off over the edge of the railing, and began flying downwards toward the ground below, where the rest of the members of the Allied Shinobi Forces and the Imperial City ninjas were waiting. There were loud, happy cheers from the crowd when they spied Gaara carrying the country's leaders to safety.

Any thought Orochimaru might have had right then of perhaps taking on and killing the mysterious female Hyuuga ninja flew right out of his head the second he saw the youngest son of the Kazekage manipulate his sand to get the five leaders off this balcony and down to the crowds below.

"No!" he thundered. He ignored Naruto and the insignificant Hyuuga girl and hurried to his feet. He spied a long rope holding up a trail of colorful paper lanterns attached to a pillar right beside the girl that stretched all the way down to the ground far below. That was his one chance! If he tore a bit of material off of his clothes and used it to slide down the rope, he still had a shot at his endeavor! He would not let his old sensei and the other Kage's escape from him that easily! He had come too far to let everything go wrong now!

He started to rush toward the pillar with the rope of lanterns as he tore a strip of fabric off of his plain gray shirt.

For a second, Hinata wasn't exactly sure what to do. How could she stop Orochimaru from reaching the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent? Then she saw the snake summoner's sword lying on the ground a few feet away from her. She wasn't sure if she could actively stop the evil snake traitor from coming any closer to her, but she could definitely stop him from reaching the five leaders of Japan in the long run!

She lunged forward and seized the hilt of Kusanagi in both of her hands, and swung the sword with all of her might against the beautifully crafted pillar, slicing right through the thick rope with the blade.

With a strangled yell, Orochimaru dashed even faster, and shoved the still unimportant Hyuuga out of his way as he struggled to catch the falling cord of rope with his hands. But alas… the coils of rope slipped right out of the reach of his fingers, and fell away in the breeze to the ground far below.

The crowd witnessed what the brave young girl had done to prevent the evil man from reaching their beloved Kage's, and everyone in the palace courtyard began to cheer loudly, relieved to no extent that Orochimaru couldn't get to their great leaders.

Orochimaru stared down over the edge of the railing in complete disbelief. "No…" he whispered. His eyes began frantically scanning the great sea of tiny heads down below, desperately searching for the faces of the Kage's, but in particular for Hiruzen. The five of them needed to die in order for him to win, and he still desired his old sensei's head on spike, but it was a futile effort to try and find them. Searching for five people in particular amongst a crowd of over a thousand civilians was like trying to find five needles in a haystack. And he couldn't even persuade them to come willingly back up here, not now that the Honorable Families were safe, too.

A loud, enraged yell erupted from the pale man's throat as he cried out for the entire city to hear at the injustice that had been forced upon him.

It was over.

He would never be able to find and kill the Kage's or the Lady Regent now.

And it was all because of the son of the man he had personally killed and tortured back on the battlefield near that village he and the rest of his troops had pillaged for extra supplies.

With a furious snarl, Orochimaru turned away from the railing and yanked his notorious sword out from where it had been jammed in good by the girl into the wood of the pillar. He spun around to face the Namikaze heir. After Hinata had cut through the rope that had been tied around the pillar, she hadn't stuck around to watch the rope fall back down to earth. She had ignored Orochimaru and had instead deactivated her Byakugan before hurrying over to where her secret love was lying on the ground and panting heavily from his minor fight. She tried to help him regain his bearings, but before either of them could speak, they both saw the enraged traitor stomping angrily up to them, or rather to Naruto in particular.

"You!" Orochimaru snarled. Naruto saw the murderous glint in Orochimaru's eyes, and quickly shoved Hinata away from him as he thickly gulped, shakily pulling a single kunai out from his weapons pouch to try and defend himself. He tried to deflect the sword slash that came down on him, but due to how tired he was and how determined and mad Orochimaru now was, his little kunai went flying out of his hand before the evil man punched him hard in the jaw. Naruto groaned in pain as Orochimaru seized him by the collar of his track suit, and held up his sword to run him through. Naruto would die by the same hands of the man that had killed his father, Minato Namikaze. The snake traitor would make sure of that! "You took away my victory!"

But Hinata would not allow this evil man to kill her one true love. She was the one responsible for his loss, not Naruto. She spied a kunai lodged deeply into a pillar a few feet away from her. How it had ended up in that pillar, Hinata didn't know, nor did she truly care, because it would serve her well. She seized the handle and jerked it out in one swift move, and then threw it directly at Orochimaru.

"No!" she shouted loudly.

The kunai lightly grazed the skin of Orochimaru's cheek, not really harming him, but it did succeed in grabbing both his and Naruto's attention, and they both immediately turned to look back over at the Hyuuga princess.

Hinata swallowed a nervous gulp knowing that she now had the evil, infamous snake traitor's full and undivided attention, but still, her resolve to protect Naruto from him did not waver for even a moment. She forced a glare on her face as she stared at Orochimaru. "I… I did!" she declared.

Orochimaru's enraged expression quickly turned to that of confusion. He honestly had no idea what this Hyuuga girl was talking about. Sure, she might have cut the rope that would have allowed him to go after the rest of the Kage's and actually kill them, but other than that, this girl was still very unimportant to him. She was just one girl. How exactly could she have forced him to have overall lost this entire war?

Seeing the bewildered look on Orochimaru's face, Hinata sighed, and gathered up all of her long blue hair into one hand. She then held it together in a tight fist before bringing it all to the back of her neck, mimicking that of the low, masculine ponytail she had tied her hair back in during the entirety of the time that she had been pretending to be a boy over the course of the war.

Realization then dawned on the snake traitor's face and his eyes widened in recognition as to just who was standing in front of him. "The Hyuuga from the mountains…" he whispered.

Any thoughts Orochimaru had previously had about killing Naruto in cold blood all but flew right out of his head when he realized just who Hinata actually was. This girl was the reason why he had lost his entire army! She had killed them all by setting off that avalanche! He may not have been able to kill her with that sword slash to the stomach that he had inflicted on her back on that snowcapped mountain in the Land of Iron, but he would not fail again! He would kill this girl even if it was the last thing he did, and he would enjoy doing it! He would enjoy spilling her blood so much, it would be at a level that even he, the twisted scientist ninja, would actually consider being sick.

His grip on Naruto's track suit fell away, and he started to slowly walk up to Hinata with the most furious scowl that Hinata and Naruto had ever seen on the snake traitor's face as he kept his sword in hand. One good slash with its blade against the peachy pale skin of her throat, and he would revel in watching the horror in her pearlescent eyes as she choked to death on her own blood…

Naruto struggled to sit back up again. "Run, Hinata, run!" he screamed at her.

But Hinata didn't move from her spot in front of the stairs leading back down into the palace halls. Part of her was simply terrified at the prospect of having severely pissed off one of the most powerful, and also most evil villains currently in the borders of the country of Japan, and that knowledge simply made her too scared to move. But the other part of her that was still rationally working also wouldn't allow her to simply abandon Naruto here. He was really hurt. If she left him up here, there was a good chance he wouldn't be found in time for a medic-nin to patch up his injuries before he succumbed to them.

If she ran off like a coward and allowed Orochimaru to live, not only would Naruto die, but so would many other people residing in all of Japan

She had to stay and fight.

It didn't matter to her if she didn't survive this battle, but she did have to defeat him.

She would win.

That was a promise.

With slightly shaking hands, Hinata tried to fall into the traditional stance of the Gentle Fist again, but all of the sudden, some type of a small purple ball of energy shot out from somewhere out of sight further down on the stairs, and struck Orochimaru right in the leg. The snake traitor hissed in pain and leapt backwards in alarm from the unseen attack.

Naruto blinked, wondering to himself where the hell that purple energy ball had come from, but Hinata, very discreetly, glanced over her shoulder at the stairs behind her. Sure enough, Kurama was standing just out of sight of the other two men on the stairs with tiny Usagi sitting on top of his orange furry head. The fox guardian saw that she had noticed him, and flicked one of his many tails in her direction to gesture for her to follow him before whirling around and zipping back down the stairs with Usagi struggling to not fall off his head.

Knowing that Orochimaru would only be distracted by the pain Kurama had inflicted upon him with his Tailed Beast Ball for possibly only a few seconds more, Hinata knew she didn't have much time. She darted forward, seized hold of one of Naruto's limp arms, and threw it over her shoulders so as to support him, and then began running as fast as she could while partly dragging the blonde Captain back down the stairs after the fox guardian and the rabbit spirit, who were both by now thankfully all the way down the steps and were completely out of sight.

Orochimaru saw them try and escape and quickly overcame his minor injury. He roared loudly as he bolted after the two of them.

Hinata didn't dare to look back as she hauled Naruto down the last few steps of the stairs. She knew that Orochimaru was right on their tail, and she didn't want to become even more afraid by looking around and seeing that sadistic look on his face again. Her only priority at this moment was making sure that she got Naruto to safety. Thankfully, Naruto managed to snap out of his weakened, drained daze, and instead of just continuing to hang lifelessly over her shoulder, he was able to run at a somewhat semi-fast pace in his injured state.

The Namikaze heir and the Hyuuga heiress finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and Hinata shrugged Naruto's arm off her shoulders and shoved him forward for a moment so as to spin around, slamming the doors leading up to the balcony shut behind them, and bolted them securely in place with a very strong wooden beam.

As soon as they were shut, Orochimaru also reached the bottom of the steps, and started pounding on the doors so hard, they thumped forwards a bit under the weight, and they both creaked as they were forced to remain closed thanks to the wooden beam. Both of the Konoha ninjas all but threw themselves at the doors, trying to make sure that they held together as they looked nervously at one another.

"T-This won't hold him forever…" Hinata said worriedly, seeing the hinges on the door nearly breaking apart thanks to the rough pounding from the snake summoner.

Naruto painfully grunted as he pressed his full weight up against the door. He was grateful to Hinata for having saved his life, but he also knew full well that he was holding her back. She had to get out of here. "Go on without me…" he groaned.

Hinata's head snapped around to stare at him in complete disbelief at what he had said. "N-Never! I could never do that!"

"Just go! Get out of here and save yourself!" Naruto snapped. "That's not a request, by the way! That's an order!"

Before Hinata could comment, the blade of Kusanagi suddenly broke out from the opposite side of the wood of the great door, only a few inches away from Hinata's left ear. She squeaked in slight fear, but she didn't lose her focus. She knew that they wouldn't be safe here. The young heiress simply swung Naruto's arm back over her shoulder, and started running with him again back down the hall, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see a small orange and white blur following them from shadows. At least she knew that no matter what happened, she and Naruto wouldn't be completely on their own against Orochimaru.

"As I r-recall, Naruto, you dismissed me from the army, so I don't… I don't have to follow your orders if I really don't want to…"

"Hinata—"

"I'm not just going to leave you here defenseless, Naruto. I'm finding y-you some help."

They zipped around a corner together, only to come to a complete stop when they nearly smacked head first into a small group of servants who had been using the lull in the battle upstairs to try and sneak out of the palace and harm's way. One of those servants was a familiar dark-haired handmaiden who was pressing a small cloth against an injury she had to one of her shoulders.

Hinata didn't know her, but the moment Naruto saw her, his eyes lit up. "Matsuri!" he called out.

The handmaiden's eyes widened in recognition. "Naruto?!" she gasped, looking horrified to see the Namikaze heir in such bloody state.

Hinata instantly realized who this girl was. Matsuri was supposedly the girl that Co-Captain Gaara had feelings for. She could leave Naruto with her and her fellow friends. He would be safe with Matsuri and the other servants.

"Please," Hinata begged, looking directly at Matsuri. "Naruto's very hurt. He needs to get out of here…"

"We'll take him," said Matsuri at once. The other servants nodded at once and quickly stepped forward so as to support Naruto as Hinata handed him over.

"Listen to me," Hinata went on, her tone full of warning. "It's not safe here. Orochimaru will probably bust d-down those doors any second now… Take him and hide! I'll draw him away, and then all of you run. Get outside, the r-rest of the troops in the Allied Shinobi Forces will protect you…"

"Hell, no! You're still hurt yourself, Hinata!" Naruto said through a slight hiss of pain.

"There's no time to think up another plan, Naruto!" Hinata argued back. "Someone has to do… well _something!"_

And without another word, Hinata spun around, and started running back around the corner in the direction of the door that Orochimaru had almost finished smashing his way through.

"Hina— oof!" Naruto was cut off when Matsuri slapped her hand over his mouth to shut him up, and then she and the other servants crowded around him and started dragging him toward a hidden door behind a regal looking tapestry that led to a servant staircase that would take them to the ground floor, and all the way out of the palace.

Naruto felt helpless to resist, as he was currently too weak to do more than try to lightly tug away from the tight grasps they all had on his body, not that doing so did anything for him. All he could really do was hope like hell that Hinata would be okay. Truth be told, he was very scared for her. She was on the run from Orochimaru, one of the strongest ninjas in the world. A ninja even he hadn't been able to beat! He prayed she would survive this battle.

* * *

As Hinata sprinted as fast as she could down the corridor past the balcony doors in the opposite direction of where she had passed Naruto to Matsuri and the other servants, Kurama zipped up beside her with tiny Usagi still on his head and started to run down the hall at the same speed as her.

"K-Kurama! Usagi!" Hinata gasped in relief upon seeing her two furry companions. Without stopping for even an instant, she scooped the two off of the ground, and plopped Kurama on her shoulder and let Usagi crawl into the safety of one of the sleeves of her kimono.

Kurama quickly scampered down the back collar of her kimono to stay out of sight while he spoke. "Damn it, Woman! Please tell me you have a plan!"

His words actually caused Hinata to pause momentarily as she ran through the halls, and she stopped in the exact center of the hall only a few yards away from the balcony, which by now Orochimaru had almost finished busting through. "Um…" she trailed off.

Kurama poked his head back out from the back of her collar to give her a deadpanned look. "You don't have a plan?!" he growled in disbelief.

Hinata gave him an annoyed look. "I… I'm making this w-whole thing up as I go, Kurama! I honestly have no idea what to do nex—"

She was cut off when the balcony doors a little ways away from them suddenly splintered open, and a resounding boom echoed loudly throughout the entire corridor. Orochimaru's face was twisted in a raging sneer as he turned his head furiously from side to side in order to locate the Hyuuga who had killed all the Sound Ninjas in his army. He quickly spotted Hinata standing alone not too far away from him. He didn't see Naruto anywhere, but Orochimaru no longer cared about the heir to the Namikaze clan. He only cared about killing Hinata, and Hinata alone.

With a gleeful chuckle, Orochimaru ran at top speed right toward the Hyuuga heiress, and Hinata gasped before turning to bolt as fast as she could right back down the hall again. Every now and then, the snake summoner would throw a series of kunai or shuriken toward her, trying to hit her in the back, and Hinata was forced to either use the Substitution Jutsu with other adornments such as expensive vases or leafy plants in the hallway to both avoid the flying weapons and try to get further up ahead of the snake summoner, or to simply dodge the attacks by nimbly leaping from side to side and out of the way of the weapons. Dodging the kunais and shuriken caused the Hyuuga princess a great deal of pain in her abdomen from leaping around like that, but Hinata knew that experiencing the pain was worth it. She had to try and preserve as much chakra as possible, since Orochimaru could be after her head for quite a while.

When Hinata tried to run around another corner in the corridor, however, she slipped on a small throw rug that was spread across the floor, and she toppled over and slid across the ground on her stomach. As she groaned from the pain and tried to regain her bearings, Orochimaru turned the corner and saw her down for the count. A malicious smirk spread across his face as he slowly stepped forward with his sword in hand, ready to kill the girl that was quivering in fear on the ground in front of him, trying to desperately crawl backwards and away from him in a meager attempt to preserve her life.

Small terrified murmurs escaped Hinata's lips as she stared up at the snake summoner with big, fearful eyes. She was frozen in terror. This was it. She was about to die here. She was about to die at the hands of Orochimaru.

Usagi seemed to have had the same thought that she did, because within seconds, she hopped out from her hiding spot in the sleeves of Hinata's kimono, and moved to stand up on her shoulder before bleating threateningly at the evil man as she stomped her oversized white rabbit feet in an angry fashion.

Her efforts only succeeded in drawing a laugh from Orochimaru.

"Such a weak creature," he muttered with a chuckle, shaking his head lightly before using the tip of his sword blade to flick Usagi off Hinata's shoulder so that she hit a nearby wall. There was a loud, painful squeak when the tiny little rabbit spirit smacked into the wall, and she fell to the floor a small thump.

"U-Usagi!" Hinata gasped fearfully. Her little bunny had been her companion ever since that horrible matchmaking session with Lady Anko, and she cared for her dearly. It broke her heart to see her be treated in such a despicable way.

Hinata wanted desperately to crawl over and scoop up her little spirit companion to see whether or not she was okay, but Orochimaru quickly shoved that idea right out of her head when he pointed the tip of his sword right at her chest. "You, Hyuuga girl, are the reason why all of my Sound Ninja forces are gone. You shall pay for what you have done!" he hissed.

Hinata said nothing in reply to that statement. She just nervously gulped and continued to stare up at the snake-like man with wide eyes.

Believing that Hinata was simply too scared now to either speak or move, his malicious smirk grew even wickeder. "I don't know what those idiots in the Allied Shinobi Forces could have been thinking when they let you, a woman, become a ninja, but you are a disgrace. You killed all the ninjas in my army, but can't even defend yourself against me, just one man."

Those words definitely got Hinata's attention. "Disgraceful?" she whispered. There was a brief pause as she considered that word, but instead of making up some type of defiant response, Hinata just weakly nodded in reply.

Because in this instance, Orochimaru was correct.

She had failed with Lady Anko.

She had disappointed her father.

She had been one of the worst ninja recruits in training.

She had almost killed all of her fellow shinobi during the avalanche on the mountains.

She had lied to everyone about her true gender.

To say she was actually worth something would be a lie.

These thoughts all ran about wildly in her head, and a sad smile spread across Hinata's face as she gazed up at Orochimaru. "I know that I am…" she said rather simply.

Orochimaru blinked at her, puzzled by how she didn't even seem to be the slightest bit offended by his cruel words, but then shrugged her strange reaction aside.

"I've killed many women in the past," he stated with a sneer. "Some would beg and cry for me to spare them. Others would sass back at me and say they weren't the slightest bit afraid of me. I thought I had seen and killed all types of women before, but I have to say, you're the first that ever dared to try and fight me," he commented.

That earned him a genuine smile from the submissive heiress. "I will take that as compliment," she said.

Her words made Orochimaru laugh as he raised his sword high in the air so as to finally strike her down for good.

Tiny Usagi had recovered from being forcibly thrown at the nearby wall, and upon seeing what was about to happen to the elder sister of Hanabi, her summoner, every protective instinct that was inside of the little spirit companion went haywire. This evil man was about to mortally wound Hinata, her mistress! She had to do something to help!

A loud, angry squeak erupted from the small bunny's mouth as the little spirit companion's chakra exploded, and a great deal of smoke filled the air near the wall.

Both Hinata and Orochimaru looked over in alarm when the explosion erupted, not quite sure what had just happened, but they didn't get the chance to voice their confusion, because less than a second later, something very white, furry, and very _large_ jumped out from the smoke and threw itself at Orochimaru, kicking the Sound ninja firmly in the chest.

The confused traitor yelped loudly as he went forcefully flying backwards into a pillar by a wall nearby, and due to the strength of the kick in general, the force of him whacking into the wooden beam actually caused the beam to topple right over, striking the wall so hard that it buckled under the shockwave and crumbled away, exposing the outside world of the palace.

Orochimaru groaned in pain as he rolled away from the wreckage, but throughout the entire ordeal, Hinata was completely unharmed. In the back of her mind, Hinata registered that she could hear startled cries and screams from the crowd outside from having witnessed one of the walls on the upper floor of the palace suddenly explode for seemingly no apparent reason, but she didn't really dwell on it. She just stared wide-eyed at Orochimaru for a moment, confused as to what had just happened, but then she turned to the large furry white thing next to her, only to gasp in surprise.

Tiny Usagi wasn't so tiny anymore. She was almost as tall as Hinata herself, and she was standing protectively in front of her wonderful mistress, determined to make sure that Orochimaru did not harm one hair on Hinata's head. As this was a life or death situation for her human companion, the rabbit spirit was finally able to tap into her spiritual powers to try and protect her. Granted, this enlargement of her body wasn't exactly permanent. It would only stay in effect for maybe another minute or more, so she had to use this time to do everything she could to stop Orochimaru before her spiritual powers wore off.

Hinata was amazed. "Usagi! I… I didn't know you c-could become big like that!" she gasped.

Usagi made a small, happy squeak at her mistress's words, but quickly turned her attention back to Orochimaru, who was now standing back up again and was eying the huge bunny with obvious disdain. The girl's rabbit spirit companion had been an unexpected surprise, but it didn't matter in the long run. He'd pound this bunny and then get back to his main focus of slitting the Hyuuga girls' throat!

With a growl, he ran straight toward the rabbit with his sword raised high in the air, and Usagi bleated determinedly before raising her front paws like fists and started trying to land another attack on the snake summoner.

For a split second, Hinata remained where she was on the ground and stared, all but mesmerized, at the battle between the leader of the Sound Ninja army and her very own rabbit spirit, too stunned by this sudden turn of events to do anything else. It wasn't until she felt a particularly painful scratch on her shoulder blade, courtesy of Kurama, did she snap out of her daze.

"Woman! That rabbit of yours is buying you time to escape! Move, damn it!" her guardian growled.

Hinata realized that the orange fox was correct and quickly scrambled to her feet, beginning to look around anxiously for an escape route. There was no point in running further down this corridor. Orochimaru would just catch up to her again, and she couldn't see any flights of stairs anywhere. How exactly could she get out of here?

Her eyes fell upon the fallen pillar leaning out of the blown out wall, and an idea came to her mind. The floor that she was currently on was the highest floor in the Imperial Palace, meaning that it had to be right under the roof. If she could somehow climb up to the roof right now, she stood a good chance at being completely out of Orochimaru's reach.

With her new idea in mind, Hinata hurried around the ongoing fight, doing her best to dodge the kicks from her kind rabbit spirit that was defending her and the sword slashes from Orochimaru as he furiously tried to harm Usagi. She dashed as fast as she could toward the fallen pillar and the blown out wall that was revealing the crowds outside.

* * *

The entire time Matsuri and the other servants supported him out of the palace, Naruto struggled. He didn't have time to be injured like this! Hinata needed him! Orochimaru was after her blood! He needed to get back up to the top floor and help her! But even though he struggled relentlessly against the grips they had on him, Matsuri would just give him a cross look and order him to stay still and lean on her as they dragged him down the stairs.

They were now exiting the palace out of a secret servant's entrance that Naruto had never even known had existed before today, despite having spent over half his childhood inside the Imperial Palace from often accompanying his father whenever he went to speak with the Kage's. Naruto leaned on Matsuri for additional support as he limped out into the vast crowd, but at the same time began searching for anyone from either the Allied Shinobi Forces, or at least for a sign of Gaara with the rest of the Kage's.

"I'm okay, Matsuri, really," he insisted exasperatedly when she tried to apply some pressure to a particularly painful-looking slash mark on his side that had been caused by Orochimaru's sword. "It's just a superficial wound. I'm fine!"

Matsuri shot him a disbelieving look. "So says the boy who nearly slipped on the stairs on three different occasions while getting down here!" she shot back. "Please, let me treat your wounds!"

"There's no time! I gotta find someone from the army or least one of the Kage's! Hinata needs backup!"

"Hinata? Do you mean that girl you were with earlier?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but he was quickly cut off by someone suddenly shouting his name very loudly.

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned. All of his fellow ninja friends were dashing up to him as they forced their way through the crowd to reach him. In the distance, he could see the Four Kage's, the Lady Regent, and the members of the Honorable Families and the Mizukage Regent's bodyguards. They were standing beside Kakashi, Ebisu, and the rest of the troops in the Allied Shinobi Forces, along with the other Kage bodyguards at the base of the seemingly never ending stairs leading up to the main entrance into the Imperial Palace. Now that they were all down here, the rest of the army could easily protect them. Sakura and Tsunade seemed to realize that he was very hurt, though, and they immediately broke away from where they had been busy healing up Chojuro, Ao, and Konohamaru to come forward and try and help him, as the three of them were now in a relatively stable condition.

Naruto did his best to force a grin on his face as his friends gathered around him. "Hey, guys. Glad to see you're all—"

"Shut up and sit down on the ground, Brat!" Tsunade rudely interrupted, her hands already glowing bright green with chakra as she and Sakura forced the heir of the Namikaze clan to sit down on the paved ground below so that they could start treating him. "You're hurt badly and you will accept my treatment, damn it!"

"Naruto… what exactly did you _do_ up there?" Sakura said in wonder as her own hands started glowing green just like her mother's as she, too, started working on treating his injuries. "Your injuries… I'm surprised you didn't pass out from blood loss on the way down here!"

"I'm fine, Sakura! Really — Ow!" he shouted loudly when Tsunade suddenly bopped him harshly on the head.

"Brat! Don't you dare downplay your injuries and say you're fine! You have at least two cracked ribs and a laceration that is no joke!"

"But I don't have time to be injured!" Naruto snapped back rather irritably. "I gotta get back up there!"

"Naruto, just accept their help. You really do look bad off," Sasuke advised him.

Upon hearing one of his best friends speak up right then, Naruto quickly turned his head to look up at him. "Did the rest of the Honorable Families make it down here safe?"

Sasuke nodded. "They're all fine. Other than the Mizukage Regent's bodyguards and the Hokage's grandson Konohamaru, they're all physically fine."

"Mother and I were treating them all before we saw the state you were in," Sakura chimed in.

Naruto nodded in relief, and then looked over at Gaara. "What about your dad, and the rest of the Kage's?"

"They're fine," Gaara said rather shortly, not really in the mood to talk about his father. "They're all over there, as you can see."

"The real question, Naruto, is why are you alone?" said Shikamaru, sounding unusually serious for once. "Where's Hinata?"

Both Sakura and Tsunade looked up curiously when they heard the unknown name, but before they could ask who this mysterious Hinata was, and before Naruto could even get the chance to explain to the others what had happened that had led to Hinata to leaving him in the care of Matsuri and the other servants, a deafening crash boomed from somewhere inside the palace. Everyone in the crowd quickly looked up in time to see part of the wall explode as a pillar fell out part way and hung somewhat suspended in midair.

A number of people in the crowd right underneath the destroyed wall began to scream fearfully as they ran in order to avoid the falling debris coming down near their heads, but all those who were in the army immediately paled. Whatever had just happened couldn't have been good, especially since they were all now realizing that Hinata had to be going up alone against Orochimaru. Even though she was a girl, Hinata Hyuuga was a good ninja, but not even Naruto had been able to beat the infamous snake summoner. She didn't stand a chance in hell against him!

Almost everyone was about ready to start bolting back inside the palace in order to try and help, but one of Matsuri's fellow servant friends started screaming and pointing back to the wreckage in the wall. "Look! Up there!" she shouted.

It was only one voice, but still, it seemed as though her voice was heard by every single person in the enormous crowd, and everyone quickly looked back up again. A young girl in her late teens with long, beautiful blue hair and wearing a gorgeous kimono was doing her best to climb out of the hole in the wreckage from somewhere in the palace, and was trying to balance on the fallen beam that was sticking out of the wall. There was a tense pause as she held out her arms and tried to maintain her balance as she slowly turned in place, but then she brought her hands together to form some sort of hand sign. Blue energy glowed from both of her feet, showing that she knew how to channel her chakra, and then she leaped as high as she could into the air and grabbed onto the edge of the roof, trying her best to climb up onto the highest point of the entire Imperial Palace.

Confused murmurs and whispers spread rapidly amongst the Imperial City civilians when they saw the mysterious girl.

"It's a girl!"

"Is she a ninja?"

"What's she doing?"

"I think she's a Hyuuga!"

"What happened to Orochimaru?"

While the crowd seemed puzzled by the sight of this unknown Hyuuga girl that was struggling to climb up to the roof, Naruto and the rest of his friends in the Allied Shinobi Forces were actually relieved to see her.

"Thank god!" Naruto breathed, mentally thanking every god and spirit that he knew of that Hinata was okay. He'd been afraid that she could have been killed by Orochimaru the second she ran off and left him with the servants.

"She's okay!" Lee cheered, a great big smile on his face.

"I too am relieved that she is unharmed, but what is going on?" said Shino, adjusting his dark shades a bit so as to better study Hinata as she finally managed to make it to the roof and leaned forward a bit with her hands on her kneecaps as she struggled to catch her breath. "What happened to Orochimaru?"

The others were immediately silenced, as they couldn't actually answer that. As much as they didn't like it, Shino brought up a valid point. Why was Hinata up there on the roof at all? Where was Orochimaru?

They barely had time to ponder this when a deafening boom resounded from the rooftop as a spot on the roof tiles suddenly exploded only a little ways off from where Hinata was standing.

* * *

It took all the willpower that Hinata possessed to not look down at the drop below her as she climbed out of the hole in the wall of the palace and moved slowly across the fallen pillar. She had to be very careful. One wrong move, and she could easily fall and break her neck, so every step she took was made very carefully, and she literally forced herself to tune out the murmurs from the crowd below upon seeing her so as to not get distracted.

When she reached the end of the beam, she slowly raised up her arms to be hovering on either side of her in order to maintain her center of gravity as she slowly tried to turn back around to face the blasted out wall. Had she tried to do something like this a few months ago before she joined the war, she knew that she would have easily fallen, as she had been a real klutz back then. But now, although doing this was very hard, she could do it. Learning how to fight hand-to-hand against someone had really improved her sense of balance.

When she finally was all the way around, she looked up, and was pleased to see the edge of the black paved roof directly above her. With a small nod to herself, she brought her hands together to form the hand sign to channel her chakra, and she felt the familiar rush of the blue spiritual energy inside her gather at her feet. Not allowing herself to waste any more time and possibly grow terrified of the long drop below her, Hinata jumped up as high as she could into the air, and grabbed hold of the very edge of the roof. She struggled for a moment as she tried to haul herself up onto the shingles, especially since she had to force herself to ignore the agonizing pain from the injury to her stomach while she did this, but she managed to do it in the end.

Hinata could hear a few members of the crowd cheering wildly from watching her climb up to safety, and part of her was indeed touched that they supported her even though she was a woman, but she was really too exhausted to focus too much on them. She just stood there on top of the roof for a few moments, panting heavily as she bent all the way forward and clasped both of her knees in her hands. She was exhausted and felt extremely weak, but the crispness in the night air felt very refreshing to the young heiress. She just needed a few moments to revive herself and she would be okay.

As she stood there panting, she thought about little Usagi. The tiny little rabbit spirit that had ruined her chances with Lady Anko a few months ago had actually saved her life. The little spirit might have messed up her chances to earn honor for her father and clan by infuriating the short-tempered matchmaker, but that no longer mattered to Hinata. If it weren't for Usagi, she would have died a few minutes ago. She would always be grateful to the little spirit companion for that, and she would be grateful to Hanabi for gifting her with the little bunny before her matchmaking session.

All in all, she hoped Usagi would turn out okay.

Suddenly, the roof tiles behind her began rumbling violently. Hinata jumped a bit rather fearfully, but before she could try and spin around to see just what was going on, a chakra-covered blade slashed right through the roof and the body holding the sword leapt out from the enormous hole left behind. It was Orochimaru, and judging by the murderous look in his eyes, he was boiling mad.

The crowds down below screamed in terror when they all saw the nightmarish man once again. Hinata was afraid herself, and she backed away worriedly. She was truly all alone now against Orochimaru. No one could help her up here. It was down to her and him.

Orochimaru dragged himself out of the hole, and laughed when he saw Hinata all but defenseless against him. Hinata ignored his laughter, though. She was more focused on what he was currently clutching tightly in his free hand.

"Usagi!" she screamed.

The little white bunny had returned to her original small size, and was squeaking in pain as she struggled to get out from the tight fist Orochimaru was clutching her in.

The snake summoner just laughed harder than ever when he saw what Hinata was focusing on. "I'll admit that the rabbit spirit coming to your aid was unexpected, but no matter. It still made no difference in the end… The question is, what should I do now? Kill the little pest with a quick stab, or perhaps toss the furball right over the edge of the roof? Decisions, decis— Ow!"

Orochimaru cut himself off when Usagi's sharp teeth suddenly sank down hard into the fingers squeezing her. She most certainly was _not_ going to die by the hands of such an egotistical maniac, not if she had anything to say about it! The snake traitor yelped loudly, and dropped Usagi rather unceremoniously by his feet. The little white bunny was in a great deal of pain at the moment, but she squeaked angrily at Orochimaru one final time before hopping as fast as she could along the roof tiles to get to Hinata. Hinata bent down and held out her hand to allow the tiny bunny to hop up onto her palm, and then stuffed the little rabbit into the confines of one of the sleeves of her kimono. Usagi would be safe in there until this whole mess was over.

Orochimaru brushed aside his mild pain from the rabbit bite, and smirked at Hinata when her attention finally returned to him. "Finally finished, are you?" he chortled. "Did you prefer to die in front of the rest of the country?"

Hinata shook away her fear as a cold glare spread across her face. She now had an additional reason to stop him now. No one treated Usagi like that and got away with it! "I may not be w-worth much, but I will not let you harm anyone else!" she declared, slipping a kunai out from her weapons pouch and holding it up threateningly. Upon careful inspection, she saw that she happened to draw the special tri-pronged kunai that Naruto's father had given to him before he died, and that Naruto had thrown at her feet in his fury at finding out that she was actually a girl back on the mountain. "You shall not harm any of the Kage's or the Honorable Families!"

Without taking her eyes off of the snake traitor, she brought her hands together to form a familiar hand sign.

"Byakugan!"

The veins around her eyes bulged out, and the world turned white in her perspective as she focused solely on Orochimaru.

Her actions seemed to amuse the snake summoner, and he licked his lips in what was obviously giddy pleasure. "Oh? You actually wish to fight me? How very interesting… So be it then! It would actually be all the more entertaining to kill you in front of the rest of the city anyways!"

He charged straight toward her with his sword raised high, and Hinata barely had enough time to deflect the blow with her borrowed kunai. They parried blows silently for a short time, but Hinata knew that just doing this would not be enough to defeat the slippery snake. To buy her a few extra seconds of time, she threw the special tri-pronged kunai right at Orochimaru knowing full well that he would either block it with his sword or simply dodge it, and then she backed up a bit as she started making hand signs.

Sure enough, Orochimaru expertly dodged the simple attack, but when he focused his attention back on Hinata, she was already done with the required hand signs for her jutsu.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

A great gust of wind erupted from the girls' mouth and bombarded right in the snake traitor's direction. Orochimaru recalled that she happened to know this jutsu from the incident on the mountains, and quickly sheathed his sword back on his hip and began making hand signs of his own.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

He spat a great deal of mud out of his mouth in a single line in front of him, and just a few seconds before the blasting winds could reach him, an enormous wall made entirely out of mud sprang up in front of him, shielding him from the raging windstorm.

Hinata frowned sadly when she saw that her attack did nothing at all to him in the grand scheme of things, but she had no time to dwell on her thoughts, because Orochimaru was already hopping over the vast wall he had created, and was now running straight toward her as he prepared another jutsu. Even though Orochimaru was the enemy, he truly was a top class ninja, capable of doing one jutsu after another all but back to back to each other.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

A great fireball of a size the likes of which Hinata had never seen before emerged from Orochimaru's mouth. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head at the sight of it. It was enormous, and almost had the shape of a dragon's head! She gasped when she realized it was heading in an unwavering straight line right at her. She mentally cursed herself for never thinking of maybe asking Naruto to teach her some type of defensive jutsu back at the training camp. Her Protective Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms was a great offensive and defensive jutsu that she had invented, but it wouldn't really help her in this situation. There was really only one jutsu she knew of that might help.

Ignoring the pain from the old injury in her stomach, she tried to leap out of the way as she formed another series of hand signs herself.

"Water Style: Gunshot!" she shouted.

Hinata didn't really expect that the one water jutsu she knew would really be able to stop the gigantic fireball completely, but she hoped that maybe splashing a bit of water on it would at least minimize the inferno somewhat before it could hit another area of the roof and create an enormous, unstoppable fire.

Her water bullets shot right out of her mouth and struck the dragon-like ball of fire. Just as she had thought, they didn't completely douse out the flying flames, but they did shrink it down. Since she had gotten out of the way in time before the attack could hit her, the fireball struck a section of the roof not too far away from her, and the entire area went up in flames. Hinata wanted to use her Water Gunshot again to put out the flames that were slowly starting to spread across the roof of the palace, but she didn't have time, as Orochimaru was coming at her again.

The snake summoner grinned as he drew closer. "Striking Shadow Snakes!" he bellowed. A number of sinister looking snakes shot out from the sleeves of his gray garb as well as out of his mouth, and zoomed through the air right at the young heiress.

Hinata momentarily panicked on what she could do to defend herself against such evil looking creatures, but then a determined look spread across her face. There was no way in hell she was going to lose to Orochimaru by freezing at the sight of his nasty snakes! This time, she could protect herself with her original technique!

"Protective Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms!" she yelled.

Her protective shield made up of sharp blades of pure chakra appeared around her as she moved her open palms in all directions around her body in circular motions. The snakes hit her shield, and were quickly cut up by the streams of chakra erupting from her hands before being pushed back entirely. The snakes all hissed loudly in agonizing pain as they began bleeding from the places where they had been horribly slashed by the thin, flexible chakra blades.

Orochimaru frowned as he recalled back the snakes. He had fought a number of Hyuugas in the past before, but he had never seen a technique like that. It seemed to be very similar to the Hyuuga clan's infamous Rotation, but it was different though because it was an attack, too… What was that jutsu? Was it only just developed to use, or was it maybe reserved only for members of the main branch of the clan?

He shook the thought out of his head as he watched the girl cancel the jutsu. He could ponder that later. Right now, he had to concentrate on killing this meddlesome girl in front of the rest of the city.

It was time to stop playing around with her. Woman or not, she was a member of the Hyuuga clan. Let's see how she fared at her clan's infamous taijutsu style!

With a small hiss, he darted forward with his fist raised, intent to send her flying over the edge of the roof. Hinata barely had enough time to raise her fists to defend herself from the blow, but she quickly recovered, and a determined look spread across her face as she started making her own attacks back using the Gentle Fist.

The people in the crowd down below watched with baited breath as they witnessed the infamous traitor and their heroine go all out in a taijutsu brawl. Whenever a punch or kick of Orochimaru's happened to land on Hinata and she would wince in pain, the crowd would either gasp or scream, but when Hinata managed to strike and seal off a tenketsu point somewhere on Orochimaru's body and he would groan from the painful feeling, the crowd would go ecstatic in delight. From where they were all standing the fight seemed to be evenly matched. They could only pray that the mysterious girl would somehow manage to beat Orochimaru!

Hinata couldn't help but feel so alive and free as she continued to fight long and hard against the evil man.

She was actually doing something right for a change!

She might not ever be the perfect heiress that her family and the Hyuuga clan elders had always wanted her to become, but she was born to do this.

Hinata gritted her teeth together as she struggled to evade another punch to the face from Orochimaru. She was landing attacks, but she was taking too many in return. With the wound to her stomach distracting her the way it was, she would never stop the snake summoner at this rate. Especially since she also had to focus on making sure that the fight didn't make its way over to where the large fire was spreading, which Orochimaru had tried to direct her towards many times already. She had to try something else!

She aimed one last kick at Orochimaru's right side so as to distract him, and then nimbly leapt backwards so as to give herself a bit of space as she began to channel her chakra solely into her hands, creating two large light blue chakra shrouds that were in the form of two lion-shaped heads so as to use her other original technique.

"Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists!"

She charged forward and attempted to land a hit on Orochimaru. The first few punches she made Orochimaru was able to dodge, but after a quick feint to the left when she was really aiming to hit him on the right, she finally managed to strike his shoulder.

This time, Orochimaru was stunned by the attack that she had managed to land on him. What was this jutsu?! It not only made her attacks twice as powerful, but it seemed to be draining him of his own chakra! He had to get her to stop this jutsu immediately!

"Striking Shadow Snakes!" he yelled out again. More snakes flew out from his body and zoomed directly toward Hinata.

Hinata was running low on chakra at this point and was growing very fatigued, so she wasn't able to dodge the attack completely. While she evaded the first few snakes that shot out at her, the last one wrapped itself around her left wrist, and bit down on her hard. She cried out in pain. Wow, that snake bite hurt like hell! And was she getting dizzy all of the sudden? Oh god, that snake was probably poisonous!

"D-Damn you!" she groaned when the snake receded back to Orochimaru. She was swaying in place a bit as a result of the poison, but she was still very coherent.

"Oh, are you pain?" said Orochimaru with a mocking laugh. "My deepest apologies, but I did promise to kill you, didn't I? I wonder… what would these crowds prefer? A stab? A quick beheading? A slashed throat? Or maybe a slow and agonizing mutilation?"

As he slowly drew closer to her, Hinata fought back against the dizziness threatening to overpower her and drew herself into a special stance. She wasn't particularly good at this one Hyuuga clan technique that Kurama had taught her and could only do it partially, but that didn't matter. It was still a move she could use despite her low chakra reserves. Her Twin Lion Fists were still activated in her hands, so she honestly didn't know how this would end up exactly considering she had never once tried to combine these two moves before, but she was running out of options. She had to try something! Hopefully with this move, she could put an end to this whole battle, because after this, between being low on chakra, physically spent, and possibly being poisoned, she wasn't sure if she had it in her to fight any more…

She waited for Orochimaru to get in range of her field of divination, and then she made her move.

"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty Two Palms!"

She dashed forward with her palms flexed out in front of her at the ready, still shrouded in the light blue lion heads of the Twin Lion Fists.

"Eight Trigrams: Two Palms!"

She struck two tenketsu points in Orochimaru's chest rapidly, making him hiss in pain.

"Four Palms!"

She hit four more chakra points on his body.

"Eight Palms!"

Eight more points were sealed off.

"Sixteen Palms!"

Sixteen points were cut off.

"Thirty Two Palms!"

Thirty two tenketsu points were sealed off in Orochimaru's body at such a rapid pace that it actually made him stumble backwards a bit and yell out loudly. The citizens of the Imperial City began cheering wildly at seeing Orochimaru hurt like this. Just a little more! The snake bastard was taking hits! The girl just had to land a few more solid attacks on him, and she would be victorious.

But Hinata was completely fried after doing that last technique. She was becoming completely disoriented now thanks to the poison, and her body was on its very last legs of energy. She tried to glance back up in what she assumed was the direction that Orochimaru was in, and saw three distorted images of him glaring at her coldly. He was beyond pissed off after that last attack.

"You drive my patience, Girl!" he hissed.

Before Hinata could make some sort of effort to try and avoid his attack, he slammed his fist right into her face, and Hinata yelped loudly as she heard a loud crack followed by the feeling of blood running down her face. She could only assume she looked positively ugly now because he had probably broken her nose.

She tried to brush aside the pain and continue fighting, but Orochimaru wasn't done with her yet. With a growl, he grabbed her wrist tightly in one hand, and then flung her over in the direction of the flames. Hinata could tell which way he was throwing her, and tried to maneuver herself while airborne so as to make sure that she didn't land in the direct center of the roaring fire. While she was able to avoid most of the red and orange flames, part of her right leg and part of her kimono brushed up against the raging inferno. Hinata yelled loudly as she struggled to maneuver her red raw leg and the burning fabric of her gown away from the flames, and even began beating down the burning material with her hands to make sure the fire didn't spread further up her clothes.

As hot tears ran down her cheeks from the burning pain in her leg, the stinging in her wrist from the snake bite, and the throbbing ache in her face from her broken nose, Orochimaru seized Hinata by the collar of her elaborate kimono, and moved so as to let her dangle like a rag doll over the very edge of the rooftop as he unsheathed his sword Kusanagi once again. Despite the pain she was experiencing and the dizzying and now nauseous feeling that was spreading throughout her body because of the poison, Hinata did her best to struggle against him. She might be out of chakra and completely exhausted, but she refused to die without putting up some sort of a fight!

Her struggling only seemed to further amused Orochimaru, and he chuckled a bit as he pressed the tip of his sword in approximately the same area on her abdomen that he had slashed her while back on the mountain.

"It looks like you're out of ideas…" he hissed in amusement, pressing the tip of the blade into the silk fabric of the kimono hard enough to tear a hole in the beautiful dark blue and purple material.

Hinata didn't say anything in reply. She simply glanced warily over her shoulder at the ground far below. That had to be at least a hundred foot drop beneath her. She could see various nobles on a balcony a few floors below looking up warily at her, clearly afraid of what would become of her fate, and a little ways underneath that balcony there was a number of traditional-looking lanterns attached to long metal poles sticking out of the wall of the palace. She definitely wouldn't want to hit those while falling to her death. She'd probably crack her skull open!

Hinata reached down into the makeshift obi of her red scarf to try and reach her weapons pouch on her leg so as to pull out a kunai, but all she felt was air. She couldn't reach it. This was surely the end for her.

Orochimaru knew it too, and a maniacal sneer spread across his face as he reeled back the hand he was using to grip his sword, and then stabbed the silver blade hard into Hinata's stomach in the same place where he had slashed her before.

Back on the mountain, Hinata had been wearing her father's flak jacket and chainmail armor, so even though she had been injured, the armor had still absorbed some extent of the sword slash. But right now, Hinata was not wearing any armor whatsoever. She was dressed only in a silk kimono which did little to protect her in the long run of a fight, and the stomach region of the beautiful silk gown was soon soaked completely in wet, crimson blood.

Hinata couldn't stop herself. She _screamed._

* * *

At the beginning of the rooftop battle between Hinata and Orochimaru, Naruto had been hopeful. Worried to no extent, no doubt, but still hopeful. Hinata might have lied to everyone at the training camp about her true gender for over three months, but she was a good ninja. He wasn't sure if she would actually manage to beat the evil Sound leader, but he had been hopeful that maybe she could last long enough to hold her ground against him until some of the Imperial City ninja reinforcements could get up there and help her out. She was a strong girl. She could make it through a ten minute battle.

As the battle progressed, however, his concerns for Hinata's safety only grew. He could tell that her reaction time in dodging the attacks that Orochimaru made was only increasing in duration, and after that last attack she made with that secret Hyuuga clan technique, he knew that all of her energy was spent and she was most likely low on chakra.

The rest of their friends in the army were also getting worried, but the second that Orochimaru grabbed her by what looked like her neck and held her over the very edge of the roof, everyone in the crowd went wild, and all of the guys in the army started crying out in alarm.

"Fuck!" shouted Kiba loudly. "That asshole's just going to drop her over the edge?!"

"God damn it! Where the hell are those Imperial City ninjas?!" yelled Kankuro.

Naruto ignored their cries. His eyes were focused only on the blue-haired girl that was struggling to break out of Orochimaru's grip as she hung in midair over the edge of the palace roof.

But then, Orochimaru seemingly decided to take out his sword and stab her right in the gut. As the rest of his friends let out strangled yells and the crowd around him cried out in horror when they all heard Hinata's pain-filled, agonizing scream, his heart felt like it was being wrenched right out of his chest as tears came to his eyes.

"Hinata!" he yelled out desperately, feeling completely helpless and unable to do anything.

* * *

Hinata's scream only grew in volume when Orochimaru finally yanked the tip of the blade out of her body. More tears ran down her face as she wailed. This had to be the most painful thing she had every experienced, being stabbed right in the stomach like this, but still, she didn't lose her fighting spirit. She just struggled harder than ever against the evil Sound ninja leader through her hazy vision. She was going to lose consciousness from the influence of the poison any minute now, she was sure.

Again, her actions to try and get away from him only seemed to further amuse Orochimaru, and he laughed cruelly. "Are you still trying to fight?" he taunted with a sneer. "How delightful! Many other people I killed usually gave up at this point. It's very refreshing to know that I'll get to see the fighting spirit die when you do…"

Hinata was barely even listening to him. She was focusing more on the low growl she could hear behind her. Kurama was still hidden in the back of her kimono, and she distinctly remembered tucking Usagi into the sleeves of her kimono when Orochimaru threw the little rabbit spirit to her when he first jumped up here on the roof. She knew she was about to die, but she was sad she was literally being forced to drag them along with her for the ride. If she had known that this was going to happen, she would have ordered them both to hide themselves somewhere in the palace. She didn't want her fox guardian and little spirit companion to die with her…

She tried to look back over her shoulder again to give Kurama one last sad look, but as she happened to glance back down at the balcony of nobles near all those metal lampposts, a hazy idea came to her mind. It was completely nuts, but it just might work.

After all, Orochimaru's only objective in this fight was to win by killing her.

Her only objective was simply to ensure he lost, no matter what the price was to make sure that he did.

Orochimaru suddenly tightened his grip on the collar of her gown to try and make her focus back on him again, and Hinata turned her head back to him in a drug-fueled daze.

"I do have one question though before I finally kill you," he said curiously. "Why? Why would a girl as weak and pathetic as you try to resist? Why would you fight me… when you knew from the start that you would only die?"

Weak and pathetic… Hinata didn't need Orochimaru to reiterate what a useless excuse for a woman she was. She was already well aware of those facts. She told herself that she was weak and pathetic three times a day on most days. The fact that he had called her these things meant nothing to her right now.

But his question in general definitely caught her attention. Why, he asked? Why had she fought when she knew from the start that she wasn't nearly strong enough to go one-on-one with him, a top class ninja?

The answer was so obvious, and it was because of a certain blonde-haired, hyperactive boy that she loved with all of her heart and soul.

A small, genuine smile spread across her lips as she looked Orochimaru right in the eye.

"Because… I never go back on my word…"

Her words initially earned a frown from the snake summoner, as he didn't understand what she could mean by that, but before he could try and question her again, Hinata's hands shot forward, and seized hold of the thick purple rope belt he wore around his waist.

Orochimaru's eyes became as wide as saucers as he spared a quick glance downward at where Hinata had a firm grip on him, but when he looked back up at her again, he could see a small, knowing smirk gracing her lips now instead of that warm smile.

"Because that… _that_ is my ninja way!"

And with the last burst of energy that she could muster, Hinata threw herself backwards.

* * *

There wasn't a single person in the crowd down below that did not scream in horror. No one was exactly sure what had happened. One minute, it looked like Orochimaru was going to be the victor of the nerve-wracking, climatic battle as he was about ready to throw their hero, the brave Hyuuga girl, right off the edge of the roof, but the next minute, not only was the girl free falling in midair, but so was Orochimaru! What had happened up there?! Theories as to what might have happened would spread like wildfire amongst the citizens in the Imperial City in the weeks to come, but right now, the only thought on everyone's minds was the fact that not only was Orochimaru about to die, but so was their mysterious heroine!

There was a deafening uproar from the men in the Allied Shinobi Forces calling out baffled yells when they saw their female comrade fall. The shouts of the Hyuuga girl's five closest friends, the two Co-Captains, and the leading Tactician were especially loud, but one voice rang out louder than all of their voices combined.

" _Hinata! No!"_

Despite the fact that his body really wasn't fully healed and wasn't in any condition to be doing any short distance, fast running, Naruto ignored the cries of protest from Sakura and Lady Tsunade as he charged a great deal of chakra to his feet to increase his speed, and took off like a bat out of hell through the jam-packed crowd to hopefully catch the Hyuuga princess before she hit the ground.

* * *

The second that the meddlesome Hyuuga girl used his last resort to kill her in order to beat him, Orochimaru actually cried out loudly in fear as he too was dragged off the edge of the rooftop, and his infamous sword Kusanagi slipped out of his grasp and spun about in the air as he made the long, downward fall to the ground below. It was about a hundred foot fall from death, and no jutsu he knew of could save him this time.

This was finally the end for him.

He had fought and killed ninjas who were much stronger before, but somehow, this one girl had all but managed to do the impossible.

She had beaten him at his own game.

That was the only thought in the snake summoner's head as he continued in his long drop.

Hinata was still in a hazy, drug induced daze from the effects of the poison, but she forced herself to focus on her last resort. If she messed up at this, she was for sure going to die. She still had so many things she wanted to do with her life, so she wasn't going to die right now without one last fight!

With a groan, Hinata released her grip on Orochimaru's purple rope belt and kicked him away from her. As Orochimaru sailed further downwards toward the ground only a short ways off from her, Hinata quickly loosened the knot of her red scarf that was currently acting as the obi for her borrowed kimono, and as she fell further down past the balcony of stupefied nobles, she latched the end of the scarf onto one of the lantern lampposts sticking out of the palace walls. The scarf tore right through the middle from the force of the fall for a few seconds, but soon stopped ripping after a moment, and Hinata hung in midair as she clutched the end of the red wool scarf with both hands.

There were many cries of relief from the crowd upon seeing her stop falling, but in her daze, Hinata barely even heard them. Their cries were just a dull drone in her ears as she tried to force herself not to lose consciousness. If she were in her right mind right now, it would occur to her to feel embarrassed since her kimono was technically flapping open in the night air in front of every citizen in the Imperial City since she had undone her obi, but since she was so out of it, she really couldn't care less what she looked like to the people in the city. The poison was really kicking in at this point, and she felt really, really sick. She just had to stay awake long enough to climb up to the metal pole of the lamppost, because if she did, she could try and jump over to the balcony of nobles and finally be out of harm's way.

With a small groan, Hinata focused her attention back on her red scarf that she was desperately clutching onto. Even though she was barely lucid anymore thanks to the effects of the poison, she still knew enough to recognize how much this scarf meant to her, and it broke her heart to see it be ripped right down the middle like this. She'd had that scarf ever since she was just a little girl. It was the only present that Naruto had ever given her. It meant so much, but still, this was a life or death situation. She would just have to remember to sew it back up later.

She gritted her teeth together from knowing how much this little climb was going to hurt her reopened stomach injury, and then yelped loudly in pain as she struggled to make her arms move so she could start hauling herself up onto the lamppost.

It was less than two feet that she had to climb, but to the drained Hyuuga heiress, it felt like two yards. She was tired, injured, low on chakra, and on the verge of dying from either blood loss or poisoning, but still, she never gave up. The only reason why she was even moving anymore was due to the fact that her body was running on pure adrenaline, but that could very well be what would save her life. She whimpered in pain with every agonizing twist of her stomach as she kept moving, but she did not stop. She just kept climbing.

As she reached the metal pole of the lamppost, she tried to climb up onto the pole, but by this point, the muscles in her arms were too weak to move. All she could really do was just grip the end of her precious red scarf tightly in hand. Under normal circumstances when she was of completely sound health, she would have tried to think up an alternative of what she could do to get out of his mess, but she was just too injured and tired by this point. She couldn't think of anything.

As it turned out, she didn't need to think up another plan, because out of all the stupefied noblemen and women who had just been watching her climb up to the lamppost right beside their balcony with stunned, frozen expressions on their faces, only one women standing there had the sense to do anything in order to try and help Hinata. A rather pretty young woman with long, beautiful red hair and bright blue eyes suddenly forced her way past the nobles standing at the edge of the balcony, and all but threw half of her body over the edge of the railing so as to stretch out her hand in Hinata's direction.

"Take my hand!" the woman shouted at her.

With another loud, painful groan, Hinata tried to do as the woman said. She stretched one hand out to the red-haired woman so as to allow herself to be pulled to safety, but fate intervened.

The scarf that Hinata had treasured for over half of her life finally gave way, and it tore right through the very end of the wool material that was clinging onto the metal pole of the lamppost.

Unable to do anything to try and stop her descent, Hinata started falling to earth for real this time.

The crowds started wailing again, but Hinata couldn't even hear them at all over the sound of her own frantic heartbeat.

Kurama was yelling wildly and Usagi was bleating in terror, but their animalistic noises were completely muffled to Hinata.

Hinata could have sworn that she heard the screaming of her friends in the Allied Shinobi Forces over the rest of the screams in the crowd, but she barely registered them.

This was it for her.

She was about to die.

The thought was echoing in her head, but even though every fiber of her being was telling her that she should be scared, Hinata felt oddly at ease. It didn't matter what happened to her. She had done it. She had stopped Orochimaru from hurting the Kage's, the Honorable Families, and Naruto. She might not be worth much, but she was glad that she had ended up doing something meaningful with her life. Even if nobody else on earth cared about her, such a disgraceful excuse for a Hyuuga clan heiress, she was dying happy right now knowing that just for one brief moment, she had done something beyond what others had always told her that she was capable of from being born a girl. She felt as though she had been a part of something much, much bigger than her in the grand scheme of things.

There was nothing to fear. Death was simply another part of life.

She closed her eyes and waited for the final feeling of impact on the ground, when she suddenly felt herself land into someone's sturdy chest and being gently cradled in their arms.

"Hinata! Are you all right?!" shouted a familiar voice rather worriedly right by her ear.

Hinata struggled to open her eyes once again. Her vision was a huge blur between the effects of the poison and the tears in her eyes from the pain, but she could vaguely make out the shape of a young man with spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes staring worriedly down at her, his face filled with absolute fear for her wellbeing.

"Na… ruto…?" she whispered, her brain having to work twice as hard to try and remember who this was that was in front of her.

Vaguely, Hinata could see that more faces were suddenly appearing over Naruto's shoulders. She was so out of it by now, she couldn't even remember half of their names, but she was pretty sure she saw all of her army friends gazing down worriedly at her, and the Co-Captains and the leading Tactician looked pretty scared for her, too.

Hinata didn't really get too much time to focus on them, though, because Naruto was already setting her gently on the ground before roughly shaking her shoulders. Hinata yelped rather loudly as pain shot through her punctured stomach from the force of his shaking, but Naruto actually ignored her cries and just shook her harder.

"Say something, Hinata! Please! Anything!" he practically begged her.

Hinata was on the verge of losing consciousness, but she tried to listen to him.

"I… I'm t-tired, Naruto… Sleepy…"

"Don't you fucking dare fall asleep! Stay awake, goddamn it! You _won!_ Do you hear me?! You fucking won against Orochimaru! Stay awake and celebrate!"

Hinata's lips curled upward into a small, amused smile. "I'm glad… I'm glad y-you're okay, Naruto…"

Before Naruto could say anything in reply, Hinata forced her head to move so she could look down at one of her hands. She was still clutching onto the tattered shreds of her beloved red scarf. It hurt to see it ruined so horribly like that, and she felt like her heart was breaking to know that she had ruined the one thing that the boy she had fallen in love with back when she was a child had given to her out of the kindness of his heart.

Her smile turned sad as she looked back up at him, and pressed the red woolen shreds into his hands. "I'm sorry… I ruined your present…" she said, her voice no louder than just a whisper on the night wind.

And with that, Hinata lost all consciousness, and she went completely still in Naruto's arms.

For a long, fearful moment, Naruto and the others were all but silent as they feared the worst.

Hidden inside the depths of her kimono, Kurama and Usagi completely froze. Hinata… she couldn't be!

Only Choji had the guts to ask. "Is she… She's not…?" he trailed off nervously.

With a dry mouth, Naruto put his head down on her chest to try and listen for a heartbeat. It took a few seconds, but his own heart leapt in his chest when he heard a small, very weak beat in the young heiress's chest.

Within seconds, Naruto was sitting upright once again and had swung his whole body around so as to look back frantically into the crowd. "Granny Tsunade! Sakura! Help! She needs help!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

The others breathed great sighs of relief. If Hinata needed Lady Tsunade and Sakura's help, then she was still alive. They all started shouting for medical assistance too, not that it was necessary. The crowds easily cleared a path to them as Lady Tsunade and the Princess Sakura dashed at very unladylike speeds in order to reach Hinata. They weren't the only ones running over, either. The Four Kage's and the Lady Regent were right on their tail, and the rest of the Honorable Families were following behind them. This girl was the reason why all of them were still alive. They also wanted to know whether or not she would be okay.

The moment Lady Tsunade and Sakura saw the state that Hinata was in, they were initially shocked, but they quickly shook aside their disbelief, and all but shoved Naruto and the rest of the army troops out of their way before kneeling down on the ground on either side of the Hyuuga heiress before allowing their hands to glow green with chakra, and they started working on treating her right then and there.

"Mother!" Sakura gasped, sounding completely horrified as she personally worked on the stab wound on Hinata's stomach in order to stop the bleeding. "This… This is…!"

"Focus on treating your patient, Sakura," Lady Tsunade advised, not even looking up at her pink-haired daughter as she treated the huge burn on Hinata's leg. "As a medic, nothing must distract you while you treat a patient. You must focus all your thoughts solely on the patient's wellbeing."

Sakura wordlessly nodded at her mother's advice, and returned her attention back to Hinata's horrible injuries.

The Kage's were particularly stunned when they saw the state that Hinata was in, but Hiruzen suddenly turned his head, and waved over Matsuri from the crowd.

"Tell your friends to prepare a room at once and to bring a stretcher," the wise ruler ordered.

"Yes, Lord Hokage," said Matsuri respectfully, and she quickly bolted over to where the rest of her servant friends were standing to relay the Hokage's orders to them.

Naruto was completely frantic though, and he looked over at once toward Sakura and Lady Tsunade.

"Granny, Sakura! Please… Please tell me she's going to be okay!" he said anxiously. "Hinata… Hinata's special! You can't let her die!"

"We're going to do everything we can for her, Naruto," said Sakura at once.

"Don't worry, Brat," said Tsunade with a small smile. "This girl is in good hands."


	10. The Heroine of Japan

**I know my readers that it has been a month since I last updated when I promised it would only be a few weeks wait, but believe me when I tell you all, none of this is a lie, that a series of unfortunate events toppled right on top of one another have occurred in my life, which is the reason why I am so late in updating.**

 **First on the list? My vacation. I can sum it up in three words: IT. WAS. HORRIBLE. We went to a beach house right on the beach of North Carolina, but a tropical storm blew in, making it impossible to enjoy the ocean. In addition to it raining every day except two days, our driveway was FLOODED because of the storm, our rented car ALMOST flipped over into the ocean at one point when it got stuck in the sand, a FROG got into the house and we spent hours trying to catch it to throw it outside, and worst of all, on the very last day of the trip, the one good day we got to spend enjoying the beach, in addition to getting a minor sunburn, I SPRAINED MY DOMINANT WRITING WRIST! I was trying to skim board, but I lost my balance and fell directly on my wrist! The two day drive home was horrible because I was in such pain throughout the entire trip, and because I couldn't ice it those first few days on the way home, a tendon in my wrist swelled up causing me even more pain. It only just started feeling better a week and a half ago, and believe me when I say that it was hard writing one handed and while wearing a splint!  
**

 **However, my horrible vacation is only half the reason why this chapter is so overdue. You see, if I hadn't hurt my wrist, this chapter would have been finished ages ago, and I could have posted it online with an AU note saying that the next chapter, the last chapter, would be late being posted, because a week after my mom and I came home from the vacation, we got a new puppy. A cute little Yorkie we named Brownie. I had been planning to explain to all of you that until he was trained up a bit, I would have to put this aside for a short time. Please, believe me when I say that that was my intention, but a new development with Brownie has knocked both my mom and I for a loop.**

 **I want to say for the record that none of what I am about to say is a lie. I swear, this is the truth. It's just so horrible, you won't want to believe it.**

 **We bought Brownie from what we thought was a good breeder, but a few days after bringing him home, he got sick. _Really_ sick! We took him to the vet, and we were horrified to discover that he has fleas, ear mites, intestinal parasites, spiral bacteria, he is hypoglycemic, and he is EXTREMELY underweight. Our vet thinks we might have bought Brownie from a cleverly disguised puppy mill. My mom is LIVID! She has made it her mission to make sure that the breeder is reported to the authorities, because after doing some detective work, she got in contact with another family that bought one of Brownie's sisters, and as it turns out, their Yorkie has the EXACT same problems! This breeder is obviously mistreating her dogs, and my mom wants to make sure that she is shut down. Believe me when I say that you don't want to con my mom. She not only doesn't take that kind of thing lying down. She gets even. Big time.  
**

 **As you can imagine, I have had my hands full trying to nurse him back to health all my own since my mom is at work all day, which naturally cuts into my writing time. If any of you, and I mean any of you, have a problem with the fact that I can't write at my normal pace anymore because of this reason, feel free to find another story to read. I still miss my little Cupid, but Brownie has been in my life for only two weeks and I already love him. He's not dying if I have anything to say about it! I can't guarantee when Chapter Eleven will be posted because I will be busy with him, but I promise you that I will not abandon this story. It will be continued eventually. I just can't guarantee when.**

 **Now that that's all said, onto the story itself!**

 **I can't believe how long this chapter is, but I think that it more than makes up for the long wait I made you all endure. It is also the penultimate chapter. Next chapter is the ending, people! We're almost through! :)**

 **Every chapter except this one has finally been betaed by Silken Danser. Feel free to go back and read the edits if you want to. She'll get back to me with her edits for this chapter very soon!**

 **I really don't have much to say, since I'm tired from writing everything up above, but I will tell you all this: This chapter contains my third favorite scene from the original Mulan movie: Mulan's Recognition, although in this case, it should be called Hinata's Recognition. I love the moment in the movie where everyone in the city bows down before Mulan, and I truly hope I did justice to that scene in this chapter! :)**

 **Now, it's that special moment once again! It's time to thank the 29 people who reviewed Chapter Nine!**

 **\- rk-tronix**

 **\- AndyM9594**

 **\- kimmibers**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- reviewer**

 **\- Cloud4012**

 **\- NH SHIPPER (x2)**

 **\- Artistry101**

 **\- loveawkwardness**

 **\- Rogue390**

 **\- ForsakenMythr2012**

 **\- catchthecat**

 **\- Yesi Dm**

 **\- blukmage19r2**

 **\- qyu**

 **\- Hime-Love-97 (x2)**

 **\- gio08**

 **\- naruhinakiralacus**

 **\- FreakyVampChick**

 **\- Guest (x4) (Please leave a name this time so I can properly acknowledge you in the AU note for the last chapter)**

 **\- Kakau**

 **\- jenuzumaki**

 **\- Animelover72636**

 **\- Breakthrough92**

 **Thank you all so very much for your reviews! Your reviews are what kept me from going completely insane this past month with everything that has happened to me! So thank you! Thank you! Please, try and remember to review when you're done reading. We're only twenty reviews away from reaching the 200 mark! I truly believe we can do it! Please, review when you're done to carry on to the 200 goal!**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit.**

 **Like I said before, please remember to review when you're done reading. Reviews are what keep me motivated! I know the final chapter will be late considering my problem with little Brownie, but in order to keep me writing whenever I can, please review! They remind me that I have readers anxiously waiting for the final chapter!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 6/25/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten: The Heroine of Japan**

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since Orochimaru and his five Sound Generals had been defeated at the Imperial Palace, and throughout the entire country of Japan everyone was still celebrating. The war was officially over. The Sound army invaders had been stopped and would not trouble them any further. The ninjas that had served in the Allied Shinobi Forces would be returning home soon, just as soon as the official end of the war declaration and the grand party for the nobility took place in the Imperial City for a second time, as the first time ended up being a bust thanks to Orochimaru and his men launching their sneak attack.

While the preparations for the second end of the war declaration and grand party commenced, the regular troops in the Allied Shinobi Forces had a lot of free time. They were all given guest rooms in the Imperial Palace, and were told that they were to be treated as honored guests, especially the ones who had helped in the daring rescue of the Four Kage's, the Mizukage Regent, and the Honorable Families. Kiba, Lee, Choji, and Shino mostly spent their free time during this break writing home to their families to tell them that they were okay and would be returning home very soon, and then exploring the Imperial Palace and the city in general. None of them had ever been to the Imperial City before so they were curious about it, and they highly doubted that they would ever be inside the Imperial Palace again. For them to not try and enjoy themselves while they were here would be a very stupid thing to do.

Now that there was a break in all the nonstop action, the raven-haired shinobi Sasuke Uchiha could have all the time he needed to properly mourn his older brother as he should, and he spent a good deal of time with his parents at the Uchiha clan compound in the far corner of the city. As soon as he and his parents had finished crying for Itachi, he stopped by the Imperial Palace only once every few days, because as the new heir to his clan, Sasuke had to deal with a lot of clan politics at the Uchiha compound. While he was definitely a strong ninja and was now considered to be one of the many heroes during this war, the Uchiha clan elders needed to take care of a few formalities with him to make sure that he was suitable to be the next head of the clan once his father either passed on or officially stepped down from the post. He dropped in on the troops and his friends at the Imperial Palace whenever he had the opportunity, and although no one would ever be able to get him to admit it out loud, he was also pleased whenever the fair Princess Sakura would stop and talk to him for a few minutes in between his visits with the rest of the men. It didn't matter how busy Sasuke was or what Sakura had been doing when she heard that he was currently in the palace. As soon as Sakura learned that he was there, she would drop whatever she was doing just to go and see him, and although Sasuke didn't say much whenever she chatted with him other than a few one word answers and simple nods or shakes of his head, he would not brush her aside. It was strange to the Uchiha how a girl that had always been annoying in his opinion back when they were kids now caught his interest as an adult.

Kankuro and Gaara spent the beginning of their time off with their elder sister Temari, who was thankfully all right and had not been harmed at all during the entire hostage situation other than a few minor nicks on her neck courtesy of the Sound General Kidomaru. As the two brothers had initially guessed, their sister was pissed at them. She didn't particularly mind the fact that Hinata had been forced to borrow one of her old kimonos that barely even fit her anymore in order to fool the Sound Generals during the sneak attack and held no ill will at all towards the Hyuuga heiress in the slightest, but what she was furious about was the fact that Lee had ended up ripping and thereby ruining her favorite emerald green kimono that she always chose to wear for formal tea ceremonies. She was a tad bit irritated with Lee himself even though he personally apologized to the Sunaese princess many times upon first being officially introduced to her, but getting the chance to really yell it out at her two younger brothers made up for it. They both knew this incident was too good of an opportunity for Temari to pass up, and she spent the first few days after the attack literally making their lives a living hell. She only really stopped screaming at them when she realized that there was someone that she had yet to yell at since returning to the Imperial Palace because he had not come to visit her: Shikamaru Nara.

To say that Shikamaru enjoyed his first week back in the Imperial Palace would be an understatement. He got to sleep in an actual bed once again instead of a sleeping bag, which made it all the more comfortable for him whenever he took a nap, and although a good portion of the palace roof had been destroyed during the great battle a week prior, there were still sections of the roof that were in good shape, so he could sit up there and calmly watch the clouds from the highest point in the city. What sweetened the deal for the lazy shinobi was that the one troublesome woman he knew of was focusing all her attention on yelling at her two brothers rather than him, so he didn't have to worry about her coming up to drag him away from his leisurely afternoons dozing off occasionally on the rooftop while watching the clouds. That all changed for him at the end of the first week when Temari realized that he had yet to visit her at all, and she had taken it upon herself to start following him around while nagging at him for being too lazy to even drop by and tell her hello. Shikamaru had definitely been annoyed, but after playing several rounds of shogi with the Sunaese princess, he would have been lying to himself if he said that he hadn't missed her in the slightest while out on the warfront. After all, she was the only woman on the entire planet that could actually give him a run for his money while playing his favorite strategy game.

With Temari otherwise distracted and no longer yelling at them, Kankuro and Gaara were finally free to pursue their own endeavors. Kankuro spent a lot of time shut up inside his own bedroom tinkering with his private puppet collection. From having spent several months on the front lines of the war, he hadn't had the opportunity to do much other than fight with the puppets he had carted along with him, so being able to add extra weapons and poisons to his favorite puppets was a real treat for the purple face painted ninja. Gaara, meanwhile, spent a lot of time in the palace library. Even though he still had no form of love towards his father at all, he still had every intention of being his successor for the Kazekage hat, and that meant he not only had to be a superb ninja, but he also had to have a strong mind for both economics and politics. As he spent his afternoons pouring over scrolls so as to broaden his knowledge in these fields, he soon realized that he wasn't always there alone. Whenever Matsuri had a few minutes of time in between her servants' duties, she would occasionally pop into the library with a large smile on her face and ask the third-born child of the Kazekage if there was anything she could assist him with. Gaara would always say no, but she stuck around for a little while anyways, under the pretense of needing to tidy things up in the library so long as she was already there. As Matsuri swept the floors and dusted the shelves, Gaara didn't say anything, but if one were to look closely enough, they would notice that Gaara's eyes weren't looking down at the scrolls he had been reading before she came in, but were subtly following Matsuri's form as she cheerfully hummed to herself while she cleaned.

In general, all of the young men in the Allied Shinobi Forces were pleased to be here in the Imperial City, and were enjoying their time off until the official second end of the war declaration and grand gala was ready, which would actually take place later that evening, as a matter of fact. Until then, they could do whatever they wanted for the first time in months. They didn't need to do anything strenuous and didn't have to even think about anything ninja-related for several hours in a row, and in the case of the two Co-Captains and the leading Tactician, they all got to spend some quality time with the girls they admired, even if they were all too proud to admit that out loud.

All in all, they all were able to take it easy and relax.

Well, all except one young ninja, that is.

Naruto Namikaze had barely had any time to rest at all since Orochimaru's defeat. With the exceptions of Kakashi and Ebisu, now that his father and godfather were gone, he was now the highest ranking ninja in the Allied Shinobi Forces. Since Ebisu already had a job here in the Imperial Palace as the Hokage's personal advisor and Kakashi actually wasn't interested at all in the position, that meant that the role of the new Commanding General of the troops fell onto Naruto's shoulders, and with that new role came new types of responsibilities.

For starters, the morning after Orochimaru had officially been killed after the epic battle on the palace roof, the Kage's and the Lady Regent had called him in for an impromptu meeting, along with the other remaining leaders of the Allied Shinobi Forces, Ebisu, Kakashi, Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru. The leaders of Japan were all anxious to know everything about what had happened back in the mountains that had led to the misunderstanding of Orochimaru's first apparent death while out on the frontlines. But more importantly, they all wanted to know the reasons as to why a girl, who had obviously been trained in the shinobi ways, had been the one to stop Orochimaru, and just why none of the commanders had reported to them and the rest of the Imperial Council that a girl had gotten into the army to begin with, not to mention why they hadn't proceeded with the longstanding tradition of executing traitors.

Ebisu had been more than eager to explain to his boss and the other Kage's all about how the Hyuuga heiress had deceived them for months by masquerading as a boy, but as soon as he started saying how Naruto had, in his words, turned his back on tradition and spared her from the death penalty once her deception was discovered, everyone else started to intervene. They all took turns explaining that the Hyuuga heiress had done what she did in order to save her father's life, and made sure to emphasize the fact that not only was she a superb recruit in training, but that if it hadn't been for her, they all would have died on the front lines, since she had been the one who set off the avalanche that had wiped out all but a few survivors of the Sound army. Naruto was also very adamant on pointing out several times that the reason why he chose to spare the girl when her true gender was finally revealed was because she had saved his life back on the mountains, and he owed her a debt because of that. The Kazekage and the Raikage weren't quite sure what to make of the news, but the Hokage, the Tsuchikage, and the Lady Regent all murmured quietly amongst themselves when they learned this. Eventually, the meeting had adjourned with Hiruzen announcing that he and the other leaders would discuss this matter privately over the next few days, and together they would determine what type of action in regards to the Hyuuga heiress was the best course to take.

There was also the matter of spending time with his mother Kushina, who was the only immediate family Naruto had left anymore, so that they could both properly mourn his father and godfather. His mother had been saddened to learn of Jiraiya's death, knowing full well how close Naruto had been with his old sensei and godfather, but she had a good long cry together with her son over Minato. Just as Naruto had lost his father to the war, Kushina had lost her husband, and she was now a widow. Although Minato's body was not present for a burial, having been cremated back in the mountains, funerary arrangements were still made. Each of the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent were planning to erect a large monument at the site of the massacred village and defeated army to honor all those who had died there, and plans were being made in the Namikaze clan compound for Minato's name to be added to the particular tablet in their ancestral shrine dedicated to those in the clan who had died in combat. The Namikaze clan had not only lost their clan head, they had also lost a great ninja warrior, one who would have gone on to be the next Hokage had the war never happened. It wasn't just Naruto and Kushina that needed a place in their clan compound to go to in order to pay their respects to Minato, the entire clan needed this. It was something that had to be done as quickly as possible so that the whole clan could grieve and try to move on.

Speaking of clan heads, with Minato now gone and Naruto as his only heir, that meant that regardless of what the Namikaze clan elders personally thought of Naruto and Kushina from being related to the traitorous Uzumaki clan, Naruto was now the leader of his clan despite his young age. That had to be the biggest shock for the hyperactive eighteen-year-old upon returning home from the war, learning that he was now the head of his entire clan. His father had always told him that one day he would take over the clan when he was older, but he didn't think he would be put in charge so soon. At least not until his father, after becoming Hokage, got too overworked between running the clan and the entirety of the Land of Fire simultaneously for a few years. Knowing that he was now responsible for all the people in his clan, and dealing with both the internal politics from those on the clan council as well as making sure to speak on the behalf of the entire clan during meetings of the shinobi council, which he was now a seated member of since the Namikaze clan was a prominent clan in the Land of Fire… it was overwhelming to Naruto. He was going to be officially named the new head of the clan in a few days after the grand gala later tonight, which meant that in addition to all the duties he would be responsible for from being the General of the Allied Shinobi Forces, he would also have to make time to deal with clan business in his family. Naruto definitely wouldn't have nearly as much free time as he had had in the past after the grand party, that was for certain.

But before Naruto could even start thinking about his future duties as the new clan head, he had to take care of his duties as the General of the Allied Shinobi Forces, and the first order of business as the new General was writing and sending the letters of condolences to the families of the ninjas who had unfortunately perished during the course of the war. His father had always done this in the past, but with Minato now gone, the job fell to him. Naruto felt so bad having to write these letters to the fallen shinobi's families, but someone had to inform them that their loved ones unfortunately weren't going to be coming home. It was hard to get through them all, but he gritted his teeth and just did it. His father must have done this at least a thousand times before. If his father could do it, so could he!

The final one to write was the one Naruto was currently working on now, and it was almost finished. It was going to be sent to the Hyuuga clan via the fastest messenger hawk he could find, telling them about all about their clan heiress's heroic deeds, and that upon saving all of Japan from Orochimaru, she had been severely injured, and was currently battling for her life in a minor coma.

He was currently writing the letter to the clan at the small writing desk in the injured girl's room in the palace, and after ages of letting his mind wander over how he should wrap up the letter, Naruto set down the pen and sighed. He was far too worried about the girl lying down in the bed right behind him to concentrate on writing. The blonde bit his lower lip nervously, and then shot a quick look over his shoulder at the dark-haired girl fast asleep behind him.

Hinata had had so many injuries after her epic battle with Orochimaru a few weeks ago, even the esteemed medics Tsunade and Sakura had been astounded that she had managed to survive the encounter. Internal bleeding, a broken nose, a second degree burn on her right leg, dangerously low chakra depletion, nearly lethal poisoning from the snake bite, and her old wound on her stomach that had been slashed open again when Orochimaru had stabbed her with his sword. Other than flushing the poison out of her body and the second degree burn on her leg, Hinata's stab wound in her stomach had worried Tsunade and Sakura the most. The fact that Hinata had managed to fight against the snake summoner at all when they both found out that part of the damage to her stomach had been caused by another injury that had only been half healed had really shocked them, and together, the two Sarutobi women had tracked down the Kumo medic-nin in the army and demanded to know why he had cleared Hinata fit for battle when the wound clearly was not fully healed and why he had left her with a minor infection spreading that no one, not even Hinata, even knew she had. The Kumo ninja had hastily explained that he only knew a handful of medical ninjutsu and had done the best he could with what he knew, not that he knew too many medical techniques to begin with. His meager excuse had really annoyed both Tsunade and Sakura, and they promised to look into whoever it was in the army that had determined he was sufficient enough to be the platoon's medic later on and yell at him for a good long time.

That would have to happen at another time, though, because at that moment, all of Tsunade and Sakura's efforts had to be focused solely on making sure that Hinata stayed alive. It had taken them several hours in intensive surgery to make sure that they healed all of her wounds and flushed the poison out of her system, and once they were done, they had to make sure to get Hinata to swallow a soldier pill and a plasma pill so as to replenish her dangerously low chakra levels and to help her body replenish all the blood she had lost while fighting the snake traitor. As two of the finest medics in all of Japan, both Tsunade and Sakura had finally declared that they had done all they could for Hinata. She was left with a large scar on her abdomen due to the repeated assault on her stomach from Orochimaru's sword, but other than that, she seemed as good as new again. The only thing that neither of the Sarutobi women could do for Hinata was get her to wake up again. That was something Hinata had to do for herself.

As the days passed by, Naruto grew more and more concerned. Sakura and Tsunade had both assured the spiky-haired blonde that Hinata would wake up in her own time, but nothing they said could appease his worries, and he was ten times more worried about the Hyuuga heiress than anyone else in the army was. The others in the army made sure to pop into her room in the palace to check in and see how she was doing at least once a day, but every free moment Naruto had he spent in Hinata's room. He wasn't even sure why this meant so much to him, but Naruto wanted to be there when Hinata woke up. For some reason, he wanted to be the first face she saw when she opened her eyes. He had done this for two weeks now, sitting in here whenever he had the chance and just watching her, and with every minute that ticked by and she didn't wake up, his heart felt like it was being wrenched up tighter and tighter.

The only thing that kept him going while he was in here was writing these letters to the families about their fallen loved ones, and while writing them, it occurred to Naruto that he should write a letter to Hinata's immediate family and clan, too. They deserved to know what had happened to her from a proper source and not just through the gossip mill. Plus, they all ought to know that it was possible that she wouldn't be returning home anytime soon, not until she woke up, at least.

Naruto didn't know what it was about Hinata that made her so different to him.

Was it because 'Hiro' had been his friend back at the training camp?

Was it because she had saved his life on two separate occasions?

Was it because he felt guilty for how he treated her when he found out the truth about her real gender back on the mountains?

Was it because of how hurt she ended up getting in her battle against Orochimaru and that she was now in a coma?

Just why hadn't he been able to sleep properly or think rationally for over two weeks since she had gotten hurt?

The only logical reason he had been able to come up with that made sense to him, was that it was all because Hinata had been the girl he had given his red scarf to back when he was a kid.

The red scarf… The thought of that simple object brought a small smile to Naruto's face, and he looked away from Hinata's sleeping form so as to instead gaze over at the nightstand beside her bed. The shredded remains of the scarf had been folded up as neatly as possible and had been set down next to the bedside lamp. Naruto had endured many shocks involving Hinata throughout this past war, but one of the biggest shocks had to be realizing on his own that Hinata was the same little girl he had given his scarf to and ended up developing a small crush on back when he was a little boy. Discovering that, out of all the Hyuuga girls in the entire Hyuuga clan, Hinata was the girl he had liked back when he was just a kid was enough to make Naruto's head spin, but what was even more astounding to the Namikaze heir was that even though the seemingly insignificant event must have occurred almost a full decade ago, Hinata had still kept the scarf after all this time.

She kept the red scarf. Hinata chose to keep his scarf. But _why?_ Why did she keep his scarf for that long? It's not like the scarf was made of particularly high quality materials or anything. Just generic wool. It was so ordinary, so why did she keep it? It's not like Naruto was complaining about her choice to keep it, though. That scarf had ended up saving her life. If she hadn't used it in place of an obi and then used it to try and climb on top of the flagpole, he wouldn't have been able to run up right underneath her falling body in time to catch her before she hit the ground. She had even apologized to him about it when giving it back to him before passing out, saying how sorry she was that she had ended up ripping it while trying to climb up. He wasn't sure what she had been thinking when she told him that, but he wasn't at all angry with her. If anything, he was glad he had decided back when they were kids to give her his scarf, because if he hadn't, there was no doubt at all in Naruto's mind that she would have for sure died a few weeks ago.

Naruto sighed as he rubbed his temples. All these confusing questions running about inside his head were giving him a headache. He knew he should really take the time to sit down and actually consider all these questions carefully, but… part of him was scared at what the answers he might come up with could be. And besides, he was far too busy. He had to finish writing this letter to the Hyuuga clan!

The spiky-haired blonde shook his head to clear away his befuddled thoughts, and then turned back around to face his desk again and continue writing. Time ticked past on the small antique clock on top of the vanity table in the corner, counting down the amount of time it had taken him to continue writing where he had left off. Finally, after another twenty minutes had gone by, Naruto set down his pen and smiled down at his finished letter.

"There! That should be good!" he said encouragingly to himself out loud.

With a resolute nod, he slowly rolled up the note into a small scroll, and then applied a wax seal with the symbol of the Allied Shinobi Forces etched into it. He would have to find a messenger hawk later on and instruct it to carry the scroll to Hinata's home village, which was coincidentally the same village he had initially grown up in when he was a kid, before his clan immigrated to the Imperial City. That actually brought an interesting thought to his mind: if his father had never been promoted to the rank of General and his clan hadn't been forced to move because of their clan head's new job in the Allied Shinobi Forces, would he have grown up alongside Hinata? Would they maybe have been friends? Would he still have liked her having known her all the time as a girl?

Wait… that was a stupid question. Yes, of course he would have liked her! She was an amazing girl! Maybe the question he should have asked was how much would he have liked her? He had no doubt in his mind that although Hinata was naturally quiet and shy, the two of them would have for sure been friends, but what about other than friends? Would he have maybe been interested in her romantically? Would she have maybe thought the same way about him?

Overall, it was a very interesting idea.

He wanted to keep pondering these thoughts, but at that moment, there was a small knock on the bedroom door, and he quickly looked over at the elaborately crafted dark wood structure.

"Come in," he called out.

The door opened to reveal Hinata's five friends Kiba, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro. After him, they had to be the ones most worried about Hinata's condition. They all might have been jerks to her, or rather 'Hiro,' at the beginning of training so many months ago, but Hinata was far too kind for her own good and had easily forgiven them for how they had treated her back then. They were her friends, and judging by the expressions on their faces, they were all upset that she hadn't woken up in time for this evening's ceremony and grand party. Hovering just outside the doorway, Naruto could see the faces of his own friends Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru peeking in. They might not have been as close to Hinata as Naruto was, but they were still worried about her, and they were his friends. As long as Naruto was falling to pieces worrying about her, they would too, as they were worried about him.

Naruto did his best to suppress a sad sigh as he forced a half-hearted smile on his face. "Hey guys," he said.

The others didn't say anything right away. They all just stood there and silently stared at the sleeping Hyuuga princess in the bed in front of them. Hinata looked healthy once again, as she no longer looked like a ghostly white porcelain doll and the color had long since returned to her cheeks, and all of her injuries had healed. The only thing left was for Hinata to wake up, but she hadn't shown the slightest sign in the past two weeks that she intended to do so anytime soon.

Finally, Shino turned his head to look over at Naruto, and he sighed rather loudly.

"There is still no change?" he asked, his usually monotone voice sounding both worried and sad.

The smile fell from Naruto's lips as he slowly shook his head. "No," he said, sounding just as upset.

The other men had the sense not to say anything else right away. Naruto might be confused as to why he was so stressed about Hinata's condition and didn't know why he felt like he was in pain every day that she didn't wake up, but that was exactly what made him an idiot. None of them knew exactly how close Naruto and Hinata might have been before and after her true gender had been revealed to all of them, but it was clear to everyone that Naruto had developed some feelings for the young girl on the bed. Hopefully, the stupid boy would realize on his own soon that he actually liked her. No normal girl would wait around forever for a boy to realize his own feelings.

But then again, Hinata wasn't exactly a typical girl. She was special and unique. Not to mention, it was obvious to everyone except the Namikaze idiot that she at least knew that she really liked him. And although no one there knew the full details about their pasts, listening to bits and pieces of conversations between them gave them the impression that the two had actually met a long time ago. Hinata probably remembered and recognized him right away, but her deception about her gender had kept Naruto from recognizing her in return.

All in all, it was one hell of a love story.

The Hyuuga heiress masquerades as a boy to save her father's life, and ends up falling in love all over again with her childhood crush, the Namikaze heir and the leading Captain in the army, who's too much of an idiot to recognize that she's really a girl right away, and when he does, he doesn't know how he should feel about her.

Still though, the relationship between Naruto and Hinata was none of their business. That was between the two of them. If this were any other girl, they would have no qualms at all in teasing Naruto with his love interest, but as this was Hinata and they happened to respect her as both a friend and as a superior ninja, they kept their mouths shut. They were there simply to check in on Hinata, and that was all they were going to do.

"She has a bad habit of causing everyone else around her unnecessary worry," Kankuro commented, trying to sound as though he wasn't worried at all, but judging by the way he was staring down at his feet, he really was concerned about his female friends' condition.

Choji nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that day at the pine pole, the avalanche, the rooftop battle, and now this?" he reeled off. "She's gonna end up causing someone a heart attack one day."

"There's no doubt whatsoever that's she's a troublesome woman, but she's braver than the rest of us. I'll give her that," Shikamaru added, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he, Sasuke, and Gaara walked further into the room to get a better look.

"Agreed. She is definitely a unique girl," said Gaara, his expression as solemn as ever.

"Yes, Hinata is the rarest flower that ever bloomed. The power of youth has always been in her," said Lee with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, considering even he, the most energetic ninja in the room, actually managed to sound depressed for once as he gazed down at the unconscious Hyuuga heiress.

"Hn. That all might be true, but it still doesn't change the fact that she's going to miss all the celebrations," Sasuke said rather gruffly. "They're tonight, you know…"

Kiba huffed as he folded his arms across his chest. "I hate to admit it, but the prick is right. Hinata might be the one who managed to stop Orochimaru, but she's dumb enough to miss her own party? Talk about stupid…"

Naruto quickly shot a glare in Kiba's direction. "Don't call her stupid or dumb!" he abruptly snapped.

While the others raised their eyebrows at how fast Naruto had come to Hinata's defense even though she wasn't even aware of what was going on around her, Kiba raised both of his hands in front of him in a defensive way and took a step back.

"Whoa, Dude! Easy! I'm sorry!" he said in a rush.

Naruto studied Kiba's nervous expression for a moment before nodding in acceptance to his apology, and then shrugged it away so as to focus back on Hinata. There was a brief pause, but then he finally spoke.

"The whole celebration is a waste of time. It's not worth it if she's not there too," the blonde muttered. "She's the one everyone should be cheering for and getting a medal of honor, not us…"

No one there could exactly disagree with Naruto on that, and they all nodded at once. A few days after Orochimaru's defeat, Naruto and the group had been informed that they would be officially presented with medals of honor at the second end of the war declaration in front of the entire city, and it was all because the nine of them had supposedly gone above and beyond the call of duty by risking their lives to save the Four Kage's, the Mizukage Regent, the Honorable Families, and the Mizukage Regent's bodyguards.

Under ordinary circumstances, it would be an honor to receive such medals in front of the rest of the citizens in the Imperial City, but none of them really felt as though they truly deserved them, because the entire plan had all been Hinata's. Hinata had been the one to come up with the plan to rescue all the royals, and she was the one to take on and defeat Orochimaru, but the Kage's and the Lady Regent had yet to tell anyone at all what they intended to do with Hinata when she finally woke up from her coma. For all any of them knew, the second the Hyuuga princess awoke, she could be dragged in front of the Imperial Palace for a public execution in front of the whole city.

"We need to stay positive about her prospects, Naruto," Sasuke told his longtime friend. "The Kage's and the Lady Regent could be merciful towards her."

"Staying positive is good and all, but we should also look at this practically. They might be angry with her," Shikamaru pointed out.

Gaara's eyes flashed dangerously at the Nara heir. "Are you trying to make everyone in this room angry?" he said coldly.

"I'm just stating facts, Gaara. I don't want to be a drag, but we have to look at both sides. We need to prepare for the worst in regards to Hinata."

"Well, at least one of you in this room has a set of brains. You're a smart man, Shikamaru Nara."

Everyone quickly turned. Standing in the doorway was Lady Tsunade and the Princess Sakura. Anyone who had decided to sit down on a chair by the bed or had been leaning up lazily against one of the walls quickly stood up straight and bowed respectfully to the two royals. Despite how worried he was about his female comrade, Lee's face suddenly stretched into a pleasant smile. This was the first time he had seen Sakura up close like this in person since rescuing her and the other royals a few weeks ago. He was beyond excited.

"Lady Tsunade! Princess Sakura! What an honor!" he exclaimed giddily.

Sasuke's brows furrowed as his lips formed a tight line. He hadn't forgotten what Lee had said during the march up to the front lines, declaring that he had feelings for Sakura. Part of him wished to snap at Lee to be quiet just as he had done back then so as to shut him up, but he knew that this wasn't the time or the place to be jealous of the green spandex-wearing ninja. He would just have to grit his teeth and endure him for now, but rest assured, if he caught wind of Lee trying flirt with Sakura later on when neither of them were beside Hinata's bedside… he would not be held responsible for his actions.

Sakura was oblivious to Lee's affections, though, and smiled politely to him return. She had only seen him in the background with the rest of the ninja heroes only once or twice before in the past two weeks since she had been too preoccupied with tending to Hinata's injuries, as well as looking after her little brother's broken arm and Chojuro and Ao's multiple wounds, and so she simply considered Lee to be overly hyperactive and energetic, but still very nice. "Thank you, Lee. You're very kind," she said pleasantly.

Lee beamed as Sasuke's hands clenched up into tight fists. Everyone, even the depressed Naruto, literally had to bite down hard on their tongues to swallow back their snickers at the obvious show of jealousy from the usually stone cold Uchiha towards the taijutsu expert as he openly glared at Lee. Even Lady Tsunade raised a brow as a small, amused smile graced her lips. She had raised her daughter to be a very smart and independent woman, but Sakura had lived most of her life being in love with only one man, so she had failed to learn how to recognize when another man had feelings for her. It was all very funny to the onlookers. If Sasuke wanted Sakura for his own, he would need to thaw out his frozen heart and realize that he actually cared for the cherry blossom as more than simply a friend and tell her how he felt. It's not like he'd be rejected, after all. Sakura had been in love with the raven-haired shinobi for years. He just had to realize on his own that he was actually in love with her, too.

Gaara recognized the murderous look in the Uchiha's gaze as he glared holes in the back of Lee's head, and quickly spoke up before anything else could be said or done that would cause Sasuke to blow a gasket. "Are you both here to check on Hinata's condition?"

Tsunade nodded. "The celebrations are later tonight, so we wanted to tend to her one last time before we need to get ready. If you would all be kind enough to step outside?"

"You should all get ready too, come to think of it," said Sakura. "We'll be seeing you there at the festivities."

The others nodded, and obediently filed out of the room, Naruto pausing only momentarily so as to swipe the letter he'd been writing to the Hyuuga clan off the desk and to gaze sadly back down at Hinata one last time. As he was about to leave the room after the others, however, a thought occurred to him, and he turned around in the doorway so as to lock eyes with Tsunade and Sakura.

"Granny? Sakura? I don't suppose either of you know what the Old Man and the other Kage's are considering when it comes to Hinata, do you?"

Both Sarutobi women blinked at his question, but then matching resolute expressions appeared on their faces.

"You're guess is as good as ours is, Naruto," said Sakura. "Grandfather hasn't told us anything more than he has told you."

"The Kage's and the Lady Regent are keeping that secret between themselves for now," said Tsunade. "You wouldn't be able to get any more information out of us than you would out of Gaara or Kankuro."

"Oh, I see…" said Naruto, his expression falling upon hearing the news.

"But if you want our personal opinions on the matter, we both think Hinata was very brave," said Sakura, her charming smile appearing once again. "She not only stopped Orochimaru, she did something no other woman ever had the courage to do before. She's truly a very special girl."

"If my father and the other leaders can't see that, you can rest assured that I will be having serious words with all of them, Brat," said Tsunade, her own amused smile spreading across her lips again.

"Really?" said Naruto hopefully.

Tsunade nodded.

"Okay then! Well, I better get going! I'll see you both later tonight!"

And with that, Naruto set off down the hallway, his first order of business to make sure he sent off the important letter in his hand to the Hyuuga clan before heading back to his clan compound so as to start getting ready for tonight's celebration.

Tsunade and Sakura watched him leave for a moment with amused expressions on their faces. They had suspected when they were first tending to Hinata immediately after her battle against Orochimaru that Naruto might have feelings for the Hyuuga princess, but now after hearing what they just did and seeing him look so happy when they told him that although they didn't know exactly what the Kage's and the Lady Regent were intending to do about Hinata when she woke up, they suspected that things just might be okay for her, there was no more doubt whatsoever in their minds that Naruto liked her. He just didn't know it yet, the silly boy.

With small laughs to themselves over the entire matter, the two medics turned back to their patient in the bed, and began their check up on the young heiress.

* * *

When Tsunade and Sakura finally left Hinata to hurry and get ready at the last minute for the end of the war declaration in front of the whole city, it was dusk, and Hinata was at last left alone. Everyone in the palace, from simple servants to the extravagant nobles, would be watching the proceedings from either the balconies or by leaning out the windows, so for the first time in two weeks, no one would be paying Hinata any attention whatsoever. So for the first time since her big battle, two others who had also been worried about Hinata all this time would finally get the chance to speak to her sleeping body and officially check in on her.

After waiting for nearly twenty minutes after Tsunade and Sakura had left to make sure that they didn't come back and that no one else suddenly came in, there was a sudden rustling from Hinata's small knapsack that had been set aside neatly on a chair beside the bed. After Hinata had been injured and it was apparent that she would probably be unconscious for quite some time, Naruto and the other's had explained to Princess Temari that Hinata had left her knapsack and other supplies in her walk-in closet, and that they needed to retrieve it for her for when she woke up. Despite her brash personality, Temari had been very understanding of this particular matter, and had gladly gone and given it and Hinata's ninja clothes to the boys so that they could be left inside her room for when she finally rejoined the land of the living. They had brought Hinata's things to her small recovery room in the palace before going off into the city to try and figure out where Hinata had left her horse Rin, completely unaware of the fact that two stowaways had been hiding inside the knapsack in order to find out where Hinata was even being kept inside the palace.

Very carefully, two furry heads poked out from the opening in the bag. A white furry rabbit head and an orange furry fox head. Both the tiny rabbit spirit and the fox guardian looked around anxiously at the room they were in before spying Hinata's unconscious form lying on the bed. Kurama and Usagi's eyes widened when they saw their human charge looking so pitiful as she laid there on the bed, and they quickly scrambled up the expanse of the bed so as to get up close and get a better look at her.

The two spirits had been so worried about Hinata for the past two weeks now, but they were unable to do anything at all in regards to her because of the fact that there was always at least one meddlesome human in the room along with her. If that worrying boy Naruto wasn't in here, then one of Hinata's army friends were in here visiting her, or the human medics Tsunade and Sakura were in here checking in on Hinata's condition, or one of the palace servants was in here taking care of her basic needs like bathing her with sponges and a basin of warm water. It was a good thing that everyone was worried about the young heiress, but because no one ever seemed to leave Hinata alone for any long stretches of time, that meant that Kurama or Usagi couldn't get the opportunity to see her, because they didn't dare risk being seen by regular humans. They were only supposed to be seen by their Hyuuga mistress, not by humans that weren't even part of the Hyuuga clan.

As soon as they were both on top of the bed and had managed to stand side by side right next to Hinata's sleeping face, they both stared down at her sadly, and then Kurama spoke up.

"Damn that fucker Orochimaru."

There was a small, sad squeak of agreement from the little rabbit.

"She fought harder than I thought she would, I'll give her that. I mean, she might not have technically won against that slime, but she made sure he lost. Throwing herself and consequently him right off the roof? I don't think even I would have had the guts to do that…"

A few well timed squeaks from Usagi answered him.

"She's so stupid, you know. Not waking up in time to attend the end of the war declaration? She's such an airhead…"

There was an indignant squeak from the little white rabbit in defense of the young heiress.

"Oh, lay off it, rabbit! Do you see her waking up right now?! I'll call her what I wish because she is an idiot to not wake up in time for the ceremony!"

Little Usagi started bleating angrily at Kurama as she thumped her oversized rabbit feet around rather furiously.

"What? Do you want to fight me, you oversized puff ball?! Bring it on!"

The two little spirits all but flew at each in a light brawl. It wasn't something new between the two of them. This little spat had been brewing under the surface the entire time they had been with Hinata over the course of this war, and now, because they were both so worried about the young heiress, their emotions were getting the best of them and they chose right here and now to have their stupid little fistfight.

Kurama tried to slash at little Usagi with his miniature claws or to bite her with his sharp fangs, but Usagi would nimbly hop out of the way of his attacks before attempting to bite him herself with her buckteeth or to aim powerful kicks with her giant feet.

The two of them were so focused on trying to beat the other one down, they failed to realize what a ruckus they were making, or the fact that the face of a certain indigo-haired girl on the bed beside them seemed to be scrunching up in annoyance at all the loud sounds that were echoing about in the room.

* * *

Darkness.

Infinite darkness.

No pleasant dreams or being stuck in terrifying nightmares.

Just cold darkness.

That was what Hinata had dealt with for the past two weeks.

At first the young heiress had been content at being lost in the gloomy dark world she had been trapped in, because as long as she was locked away in the darkness, she wouldn't have to focus on all her failures as both a respectable young lady and a good heiress for her clan. Not to mention she didn't have to think about all the ways she had made the people she cared so much for despise her from the bottoms of their hearts. But as time went on and she stayed locked away in the seemingly endless void, Hinata started to grow lonely. She knew she wasn't worth much to the rest of the world, but even if no one even liked her anymore, she wanted to talk to or at least see someone else. She tried to find the light in her black world, but she was lost in the dark, silent space, and couldn't find the way out.

A girl living alone in a world that was empty.

A girl living in an empty and still world.

It was the worst type of fate to ever befall upon a person.

For the longest time, Hinata remained lost in the darkness, not even knowing how long she had been trapped in the endless void. It could have been hours, or it could have been years. She didn't know. It was a sad notion to the Hyuuga princess, not even knowing how much time was passing by as she remained stuck here. If only there was something that could lead her out of this black world. A flicker of bright light of some kind, or maybe even a loud sound that she could try and follow.

She got her wish after what seemed like eternity. Quite abruptly, a loud array of shouting and squeaking resounded in the dark void of Hinata's empty and silent world. It was so sudden and unexpected, it actually made her jump a bit. But still, the shouting and squeaking sounds had to come from somewhere other than where she was at, which meant she had to follow it. The quicker she figured out where all that noise was coming from, the quicker she could escape this cold and dreary dark place she was trapped in. As Hinata followed the sounds of shouting and squeaking, the louder and more obnoxious the voices seemed to become, and she couldn't help but feel like maybe she ought to turn back around and go back to the furthest recesses of this dark enclosure just so that her eardrums wouldn't explode from all these loud sounds. She had been trapped in this dark world so long, that simple shouting like this seemed to give her a headache. But then she remembered how lonely she had been, being all by herself in this empty world and how she had hoped that she could find something to grasp onto in order to escape this place, and she forced herself to continue on. She just had to grit her teeth and ignore the pounding in her head from all the screaming. She could tell whoever was shouting and squeaking back and forth at one another to stop their arguing when she escaped from this dark void and found them. Right now, their arguing was what was saving her. She just had a little bit further to go. She was almost out of here.

Eventually, the shouting led her to feel more attached to the limbs of her body than she had felt throughout the entire time she had been stuck in the black world, and she felt her eyelids flutter for a moment before finally opening. She had to blink a few times for good measure as she adjusted to the light of wherever it was she was currently at. She slowly sat up and winced momentarily as she stretched her stiff muscles before looking around. She was in a small, regal looking room that she had never seen before, and was lying down upon a soft, comfortable bed with the blankets draped across her body. There was a bedside table right beside her, and the shredded remains of what was left of her precious red scarf was folded up neatly on top of it. She wasn't quite sure where she was exactly or what could have possibly happened to her treasured scarf, but figuring out those things could wait a moment. Right now, her primary concern was the fact that her kind little rabbit spirit companion and her loyal spirit guardian were engaged in a small fight on the floor of her room, completely oblivious to the fact that she was awake.

"Is that all you've got, Rabbit?! It's no wonder you could barely do anything to defend the stupid woman during that fight!"

An indignant squeak was followed by a small, powerful kick.

"You may accuse me of being a hothead, but you're the one falling for my taunts, you little fur ball!"

There was more angry bleating before a well timed bite on one of the many long orange tails.

"Ow! How dare you, Rabbit! You'll regret that!"

The two were ready to start clawing each other's eyes out, but the voice of the last person they expected to hear right then quickly made them freeze.

"Kurama! Usagi! Enough! Please don't fight!"

Both animals whirled around. Their eyes all but popped right out of their heads when they saw that Hinata was wide awake and sitting up in the bed, giving them both a disapproving, cross look.

Usagi all but forgot about Kurama and started squeaking happily as she hopped back up on top of the bed to give her mistress an affectionate cuddle. Hinata giggled at the rabbit spirit's adorable nature, and stroked her little head softly as she hugged her close to her heart.

"Hello, Usagi. It's g-good to see you again."

Soft little squeaks that were all but muffled because of how Usagi was nuzzling her tiny little face into Hinata's chest answered her.

Hinata giggled, and then turned her attention over to Kurama, who hadn't said anything all this time.

"Good morning, Kurama," she said kindly.

"Finally woke up, huh?" said Kurama with a smirk, jumping up on top of the bed so as to sit right beside her. "It's damn well time, and it's almost nighttime. You've made a lot of people worried with how long you were out."

Hinata tilted her head to the side, confused. "What are you t-talking about, Kurama? Wasn't I just taking… taking a nap?"

"Don't tell me you whacked your head too hard during that battle, Woman. You surely remember, right?"

"Remember what?"

"The battle? Orochimaru? Ring any bells?"

Hinata blinked for a moment, but then memories starting flooding back into her mind. How Naruto was pinned down by the snake traitor and how she had fought Orochimaru herself in order to protect him. The battle on the palace rooftop where she was poisoned by one of his snakes, burned on the leg, and stabbed right in the stomach for a second time. And then, right when she was about to lose when Orochimaru tried to drop her over the edge of the roof, she had tried to ensure that her loss would at least do some good for the world, and threw herself over the edge while dragging him with her for the ride. She had tried to save herself by snagging a pole with her precious scarf, but that had ripped all the way through before she plummeted to her death after the snake summoner. Everything after that was a blur. What had happened? How did she survive?

"Oh, I remember now. How… How am I s-still alive? I thought for sure I was a goner…"

"Yes, and on that note, thank you oh so much for throwing yourself off the roof while the rabbit and I were hiding in your clothes! Don't go killing yourself along with us the next time you do something completely reckless!"

"Oh! I'm… I'm sorry Kurama!"

"You damn well better be, Woman!"

"Really, K-Kurama! I'm sorry!"

"Hmph!"

Hinata gave her fox guardian a sheepish grin, but then her expression turned serious as she looked around. "Where… Where are we anyway?"

"Guest room in the palace. You've been out for two weeks."

"T-Two weeks?!"

"Yeah. You chose a hell of a time to wake up, Girl. The one time in two weeks that there isn't someone in here checking in on you and the entire city is outside."

"Outside? What for?"

"Some ceremony for the end of the war, now that that snake bastard is officially dead. Your army friends in particular are getting medals of honor for helping to rescue the royals."

"What? R-Right now?!"

Within seconds, Hinata was setting Usagi to the side and off her lap and was hastily throwing the blankets off her body.

"Yo, Woman! What the hell are you doing?!"

"I… I have to get r-ready! I want to see my friends being honored!"

"Get back in that bed!"

"No! My friends deserve my support!"

Ignoring the other heated protests from the orange fox, Hinata swung her legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up. Her joints were a bit stiff considering how long she had been lying down and recovering, but other than that, she mainly felt okay. There was no more stinging pain in her stomach from where she had been slashed and stabbed at by Orochimaru or jolts of pain from other injuries that she had endured during the rooftop battle. Everything on her felt perfectly fine. Whoever it was that had healed her this time was obviously a much better medic than the Kumo medic-nin that had healed her back in the mountains. She was so happy that she was no longer experiencing any more pain, but she didn't have any time to really marvel at her miraculous recovery. She had to hurry and get dressed so as to witness all of her friends being honored in front of the entire country.

She found her normal ninja gear folded up on a chair right beside her knapsack. She gathered up her clothes and hurried behind a small changing screen in the corner of the room. As she removed her shirt in order to put on her cousin Neji's baggy shirt and her father's flak jacket, she suddenly noticed something on her stomach. A large, ugly scar, courtesy of Orochimaru's infamous sword Kusanagi. A frown spread across Hinata's face momentarily as she traced the outline of the scabbed over wound. Her skin was no longer perfect and beautiful. Now, there was a horrible flaw on her body. While the injury was less than flattering to her, it personally didn't mean much to her in comparison to still being alive, but she was sure her father and the Hyuuga clan elders would be displeased by this evident injury. She definitely wouldn't look like an appealing bride for possible suitors anymore. She was permanently damaged. There wasn't a man alive that would enjoy having a girl with such an ugly scar right across her stomach.

She sighed a bit before shaking her head a little to dispel those thoughts. She could worry about explaining herself to her father and the rest of the Hyuuga council later. Right now, she had to hurry and change so she wouldn't miss the ceremony for Naruto and her friends!

She silently dressed into her usual ninja apparel with the Hyuuga clan crest necklace and her father's forehead protector thrown over her neck, taking note as she did so that other than the scar on her abdomen, the rest of her skin still looked perfect and unflawed. Her healer had really done a good job if the only scar on her body was the one of her stomach. When she emerged from beyond the screen, she nodded kindly to Kurama and Usagi.

"Do I look okay?" she asked them rather shyly.

"You look like the ninja you are," Kurama admitted, sounding almost bored by her question.

"Is… Is that a b-bad thing?"

"In my opinion, no. But then again, I have no idea what the others might think if you walk up to the ceremony wearing your cross gender clothes…"

"Oh! Do you think I should change into something else? A kimono, maybe?"

"If you knew where you could find a kimono that would fit you in the next two minutes, sure. Otherwise, just screw it. You're short on time, remember."

Usagi bleated in agreement to what Kurama said. Hinata didn't have time to go and look for a formal kimono for this event. She had to hurry! The ceremony would start any minute now!

Hinata reluctantly nodded. Her spirit friends were right, of course. "O-Okay then. Let's go."

Usagi hopped forward so as to be sitting on top of Kurama's head. Kurama grumbled a bit as usual whenever the little bunny chose to ride on his head, but otherwise accepted the fact that he would be acting as chauffer for the little spirit companion as he jumped down off the bed.

"We'll follow you from the shadows. Just go on. You don't want to miss it."

"Yes. Thank you, Kurama."

And with that, Hinata hurried forward, opened the door, and exited her room, pausing only momentarily to make sure that Kurama and Usagi were out the door before shutting it again, and then she set off down the hall to find a way out of the palace. The fox guardian and the small rabbit spirit followed after her from the shadows just in case there was someone still wandering around.

The palace seemed so empty to the young girl as she made her way through the hall and down a set of stairs. It was so quiet inside, her footsteps seemed to echo ominously throughout the regal structure. Every sound she made was amplified by the fact that she was currently the only person wandering around inside the palace at this time. Even when she had wandered through the corridors a few weeks ago during the mission to rescue the Kage's, the Lady Regent, and the Honorable Families from Orochimaru and his Generals, it hadn't been this quiet, because she had been with the rest of her friends at that time and there had been terrified servants huddling about in corners or peering out into the hall through cracks from bedroom doors to see what was going on, so she hadn't been completely alone. But this time, she was alone, and the thought was daunting to the kind young heiress.

When she reached the bottom of the flight of stairs and was finally on the first floor of the palace, she finally heard something else from outside. It almost sounded like cheering. She quietly gasped. The ceremony was either starting or was about to start any minute now! She had to hurry!

She wandered down the main hallway of the palace for a short time, but couldn't find the main entrance. She did however locate a small hidden servant entrance after a while, and chose to slip outside through that door instead. There was a great crowd rivaling that of the night two weeks ago when the masses in the Imperial City had initially believed that the war was first over, and they all filled out the entire expanse of the city square in front of the palace. Every face in the city was looking up towards the top platform above the great expanse of stone steps leading up to the front doors of the palace. Just like two weeks ago, all of the five leaders stood side by side again at the very top of the steps, and the members of the Honorable Families stood directly behind them. The only difference this time was that now all of the personal bodyguards for the Kage's and the Honorable Families were standing much closer to all of them than they had two weeks ago, and almost all of them held a kunai in hand as they skimmed the area around them carefully. The Kage bodyguards had failed their leaders and the royal families two weeks ago by becoming too relaxed. None of them would make the same mistake twice.

Hinata could spy Kakashi holding Orochimaru's sword Kusanagi with both hands in front of him and Ebisu with his trademark brown clipboard standing off to the side of the proceedings, but standing directly in front of the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent were none other than Naruto and the rest of their friends. All nine of them were bowing respectfully to the five leaders of the new Japan.

Hinata forced her way through the massive throng of star struck civilians so as to reach the very front of the crowd to get a better view of this historic event. She eventually came to a stop beside a group of palace servants right near the base of the stone stairs, and she could have sworn she saw the handmaiden Matsuri whispering excitedly with one of her friends amongst them, but Hinata paid her and the other handmaidens no mind. Like them, she was simply focusing on watching the Kage's and the Lady Regent give out the medals to the young man she truly loved with all her heart and soul and to the rest of her fellow ninja comrades and army friends.

She had arrived in the nick of time too, because as soon as she came to a complete stop in front of the grand stone staircase, the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent all raised their hands for silence from the crowd so that the Hokage could begin the special end of the war declaration.

"People of Japan," called out Lord Hiruzen. "It is our proud honor to officially tell all of you that the war is finally over! Orochimaru has been defeated at last and our new country is at peace once again!"

There was a thunderous roar of applause and enthusiastic cheering from the massive crowd upon hearing this. They were all so happy. Orochimaru was dead for real this time and they were all safe again. Hopefully, the invasion of their country by the snake traitor and the rest of the Sound army would be the last war for a long time. Even Hinata was thrilled to hear that there would be no more needless bloodshed. Everything was as it should be once again, and all the troops in the army would finally be able to return home. She clapped and cheered happily alongside the other palace servants.

"It is thanks to the help of these fine young men before us that the five of us and our families are alive and well today, which is why it is our honor to bestow upon all of them the highest medals of honor we can give! They all went above and beyond the call of duty in their service to our country!"

There was more applause from the crowd as the Hokage snapped his fingers, and a palace servant that had been standing off to the side, gingerly carrying a small plush pillow upon which several gold medals were resting, quickly stepped forward. The biggest medal at the top of the pillow seemed shinier than all of the other ones, even from the distance between where the ceremony was taking place and where the crowd was watching at the bottom of the stairs. All of the onlookers had to wonder just which of the young men standing in front of the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent would be given such a huge medal. It would probably be Naruto. He was the Captain of the Allied Shinobi Forces, not to mention the only son and heir to the late Minato Namikaze, and part of the rumors the citizens of the Imperial City had heard from the palace servants about the epic battle two weeks ago was that Naruto had fought against Orochimaru one on one for a short period, buying time for the Honorable Families and the five leaders to escape to safety. The medal would obviously be given to him.

Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, Shikamaru, Kiba with his trusty ninja hound Akamaru at his side, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro all respectfully bowed as each of the Kage's gently set the medals around their necks. They all looked very happy, as though they had never truly experienced pride before this moment. But strangely enough, the biggest medal was not given to Naruto, nor to any of the other eight men. A few people in the crowd murmured in confusion as to why none of them had been given that big medal, but they were mainly drowned out by the rest of the crowd cheering madly when Naruto and the others slowly turned around to face the onlookers with large smiles on their faces, and started waving out towards all of them.

Hinata herself couldn't have been more proud of all of them. They were all getting the respect they rightfully deserved, unlike her. She really wasn't worth much, after all. They, on the other hand, were all excellent ninjas and were actually important. It didn't matter to her at all that she wasn't even being mentioned. They were vital. She wasn't. It was as simple as that.

She started clapping and cheering just as hard as everyone else, too happy for her friends and the boy she was deeply in love with not to add her own support, but her excited whoops of joy did not go unnoticed. A certain dark-haired handmaiden standing two feet away from her heard her voice, and turned her head curiously as to why the Konoha ninja standing next to her was cheering so hard. Upon realizing that the ninja standing next to her was a woman rather than a man, and so happened to be a Hyuuga with long, beautiful indigo-colored hair, Matsuri's eyes went wide with recognition.

"You're Lady Hinata Hyuuga!" Matsuri shouted rather loudly.

Hinata jumped, clearly startled by the sudden shout right by her ear, but Matsuri's excited scream of her name seemed to travel like wildfire through the crowd, and before Hinata knew it, everyone in the nearby vicinity suddenly seemed to realize that she had been standing amongst them, and shouts and screams of all natures were suddenly being thrown right at her.

"Lady Ninja!"

"The disgrace of the female race!"

"Our heroine!"

"She's worse than Orochimaru!"

"She _saved_ us from Orochimaru!"

Hinata's face turned a bright shade of red as the crowd argued back and forth about her. Some people definitely seemed to reflect her own mindset that she was truly a failure of every nature and that she was the disgrace of the Hyuuga clan, but then there were people in the audience that actually believed that she was a hero and were speaking up in her defense. That thought befuddled her. Her? A hero? She wasn't a hero. She was simply a stupid girl that had done what she had to in order to save her father's life.

Anyone could have done it, so why were there some that were defending her?

* * *

Far up above on the top platform of the palace stairs, everyone standing up there heard the sudden loud exclamations from the swarm of people right at the base of the stone steps, and quickly looked down. Everyone there all but gawked in complete disbelief when they saw that Hinata was down there, finally awake. A few hours ago when they last saw her, she was all but lifeless as she dreamed on in the palace guest bedroom, but now she looked better than ever, and seemed to be so embarrassed by everything everyone was saying about her that she was blushing a lovely shade of red.

Naruto's heart jumped in his chest when he saw Hinata. He was so, so happy that she was okay! He started moving down the steps to go and speak with her, but he was all but shoved out of the way when Kiba and Akamaru, Lee, Choji, Shino, and Kankuro bombarded down the stone stairs to see her. Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru quickly followed them, but when Naruto tried to follow after his friends so he could also go and see Hinata, a hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder, preventing him from going anywhere.

Naruto quickly turned, ready to start snapping at whoever was restraining him to let him go, but upon seeing the serious face of Hiruzen staring back at him, he held his tongue from the rude words he had initially been planning to say. He wasn't the only one with such a serious expression suddenly upon his face, either. The other three Kage's and the Mizukage Regent all had equally matching serious expressions.

"Old Man?" he asked, confused as to why the Hokage was stopping him like this and why he and the other Kage's all suddenly looked so serious.

The other Kage's brows all furrowed when they heard him address Hiruzen like that, but the serious expression on Hiruzen's face faltered momentarily upon hearing what Naruto called him, and his lips quirked upwards for a moment. Had Naruto ever dared to tease the other three male Kage's or the Lady Regent like that, there definitely would have been serious consequences, but to Hiruzen, who had always thought of Naruto as almost like a second surrogate grandson while he was growing up, it was very amusing. Trust Naruto to be the only one to make him smile when there was still a very important matter that needed to be addressed in front of not only the entire city, but really in front of the entire country.

"Naruto, bring her up here, will you?" the Hokage requested. "The five of us wish to speak with her."

Naruto blinked. The fact that the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent wanted to talk to Hinata could mean many things. Some good. Some bad. The Namikaze heir had no idea whether he should be extremely worried or exceedingly happy for the indigo-haired Hyuuga heiress.

"Uh… sure, okay," he said rather uncertainly.

The Four Kage's and the Lady Regent nodded appreciatively to him, which Naruto returned with a sheepish nod of his own, and then finally headed down the stairs after the rest of his friends to see Hinata at last.

* * *

Hinata felt very lightheaded as the palace servants and the Imperial City citizens swarmed around her. Some were praising her for her heroics, other were spitting on her for disgraceful deeds. She wasn't entirely sure which side she should be listening to. All she knew for certain was that she felt overwhelmed by all of the attention, and she was mentally praying to every god and spirit she knew of that some sort of divine intervention would pop up any second now and would rescue her from this feeling of claustrophobia from the enormous crowd.

The gods seemed to smile down on the kind, shy young heiress, and granted her small prayer.

"Hinata! You're awake!" shouted out the voice of a certain Akimichi heir she happened to know.

Hinata looked up. Running down the steps of the palace were all her friends and the army leaders. Most were smiling brightly at her, as they were all happy and relieved to see her finally awake from her minor coma, while some of the more stoic ones just granted her polite nods as small smirks graced their lips. They had all come to enjoy the presence of the girl that they had all believed to be a boy at one time.

Hinata might be unnaturally quiet, shy, and above all, the only woman who had ever dared to defy the unwritten law that only men were allowed to become ninjas, but those traits were part of who she was. She was kind, polite, brave, but more importantly, she was truly unique.

Hinata was Hinata.

And that was exactly what made her so special.

Hinata's cheeks brightened a bit when she saw the way all her friends were smiling proudly at her, and she almost wished to hide her way back into the cover of the crowd. She felt extremely bad for accidentally ruining this important ceremony for her friends. Although her friends didn't seem to have minded seeing her there, she was still spoiling their moment of honor, and that bothered her.

After all, she was simply a disappointment to the female race.

She was a stupid girl.

She was an embarrassment.

She was the failed heiress of the Hyuuga clan.

She was — in every possible way — completely worthless.

Hinata considered for a moment of perhaps trying to hide herself behind Matsuri and then trying to make a break into the crowd so as not to disrupt this important ceremony any further just from simply attending the event, but her male ninja friends reached her before she was able to take even a single step.

"Hinata! Thank the gods you're awake!" said Kankuro, his purple face painted face smiling happily at her as he and the others shoved the nosy onlookers in the crowd aside so they could all gather around her.

"Yosh! Dear friend! You have caused us all so much unyouthful worry!" Lee exclaimed, grinning happily and making a 'nice guy' pose.

"Hn. Don't suppose you could have woken up earlier, could you?" Sasuke muttered, crossing his arms and sounding stern, but there was a definite smirk on his face.

"They are correct, Hinata," said Shino, adjusting his dark sunglasses, but his usually stoic voice sounded relieved. "You are rather fashionably late for the party."

"Troublesome is what I say. You're too troublesome for your own good," said Shikamaru, his hands in his pockets as usual but definitely appearing to be very happy.

"You are all overwhelming her. Give her some space," Gaara ordered.

The third-born heir to the Kazekage was correct. Hinata was becoming somewhat lightheaded and dizzy due to all the attention from both the people in the crowd and from all her friends and ninja comrades in the army. She was swaying in place a bit from her own embarrassment, and was doing all she could to not look quite as red as she usually did when she became self-conscious.

"Sorry if we overwhelmed you, Hinata!" said Choji apologetically. "We're all just so happy to see you finally awake again!"

Hinata blinked, trying to snap out of her dizzying daze. She was touched that all of her friends had been so worried about her, but she really wanted to just go ahead with her plan to simply vanish into the mass of the crowd, never to be seen again. She didn't like being the center of attention. She wanted to move, but her feet didn't seem to be able to budge. All she was capable of doing at this precise moment was whisper small, barely audible murmurs.

"Um… Thank you…?" she said rather uncertainly.

Kiba laughed, and Akamaru started yapping in obvious amusement down by his ankles just like his Inuzuka master. "If I didn't know any better, Stutters, I'd say you don't sound happy to see us!" he chuckled. "Surely we're all not _too_ bad for pleasant company, right?"

Hinata 'eeped!' in alarm and vehemently shook her head at that idea. "N-No! No! No! Of… Of course not! I… I'm just… well, I—"

"Hinata! You're awake!"

Everyone quickly turned to see Naruto hurrying down the steps with a small smile on his face. Just like the others, he too was relieved that Hinata had finally awakened from her coma, but even though he only had a small smile on his face, his smile seemed to mean everything to Hinata, and she stepped forward through her crowding friends so as to see him better.

"N-Naruto…!" she exclaimed, her cheeks brightening further so as to be a lovely shade of pretty pink.

Naruto turned a bit red himself when he was finally face-to-face with the kind Hyuuga princess. Hinata didn't notice, as she was too embarrassed herself to say anything, but the others certainly did. Nearly all of them wanted to snicker and start teasing the blonde Namikaze heir for apparently falling for their female comrade, but they didn't dare to do so right now. For one, this was neither the time nor place to playfully make fun of Naruto as they were currently in front of the entire city, but more importantly, they had all come to highly respect Hinata as both a friend and warrior. To tease Naruto for having developed feelings of affection for Hinata meant disrespecting her, and that was something none of them would ever do.

Naruto awkwardly scratched the back of his head with a hearty chuckle as he gazed at Hinata. "I'm glad you're back," he admitted, sounding genuinely happy.

Hinata's cheeks turned from a soft pink to a rosy red. "I… I'm g-glad to be back…" she said shyly.

Naruto's smile grew, but after a moment, his expression suddenly turned very serious. "I, uh… I don't want to make you worried or anything, but… well, the Kage's all wish to speak with you…" he said nervously.

The color immediately drained from Hinata's face. "N-Now…?" she said with a slight tremor in her voice.

Naruto reluctantly nodded. "Yeah. Now," he confirmed.

The others shot worried looks back over at Hinata, but Hinata didn't even notice their expressions. Her mind was going completely haywire. She had no idea what the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent possibly wanted to say to her. The logical thing was that they wanted to properly punish her, and what better time than right now, in front of the entire city to bear witness to her inevitable execution? Naruto had defied the law by not executing her back in the mountains when the secret of her true gender had first been discovered. No doubt the Kage's all wished to rectify that as soon as possible. She was absolutely not prepared in any way, shape, or form to speak with any of the Kage's, let alone all five at once! She was wearing her usual ninja attire, for crying out loud! Not even a nice formal kimono!

After a few seconds worth of panicking, Hinata slowly nodded. "All right," she said softly, doing her best to put on a brave face. "I… I suppose I shouldn't keep them waiting…"

The others nodded in agreement, silently amazed at how determined she suddenly looked in light of abruptly having to speak to the five leaders of the country with no warning whatsoever. With shaky legs, Hinata moved to stand next to Naruto, and the two of them led the way back up the stairs to address the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent, and the others trudged along up the steps after them.

The people in the crowd down below murmured anxiously amongst themselves as they watched Hinata and the other ninjas climb up the stone stairs. The Hyuuga heiress's fate for defying the law by becoming the world's first female ninja and successfully ridding the world of Orochimaru was about to be revealed to everyone here in the city square. Would she be honored grandly, in a way no one had ever been before, or was she to be charged with high treason and scheduled for a public execution in about a week or so? It was all very nerve wracking.

Just as Hinata and the others nearly reached the top where the Kage's and the Honorable Family members were all watching them, a certain irritable ninja carrying a certain brown clipboard suddenly came storming down the last few steps to try and get right up in Hinata's face.

"You! You dare to interrupt this ceremony by daring to show your face?!" Ebisu snapped, waving his clipboard threateningly in the air as he stomped right up toward the flustered Hyuuga princess. "You dare to come up these stairs when you caused immeasurable damage to the architect of this palace and nearly injured countless civilians when you blew out that wall by overthrowing a pillar?! That stunt of yours was a deliberate attempt on my life and the lives of other citizens!"

Hinata couldn't stop herself from cringing away. She had never intended to cause anyone innocent any harm during her battle with Orochimaru. Was Ebisu telling the truth and people really got hurt?

"What a mess you made! I've made sure to tell the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent about you and all you've done—"

The ninja veteran was cut off when gentle hands suddenly grabbed Hinata's upper arms and shoulders and lightly tugged her backward. All of her friends, the two leading Co-Captains, and the leading Tactician were all shielding her from Ebisu's view by standing protectively in front of her with their arms crossed furiously across their chests, and Naruto was moving right up to Ebisu to glare coldly at him.

Ebisu glared right back at the spiky-haired blonde. "Stand aside!" he demanded. "That creature's not worth protecting!"

Hinata flinched at the insult, deeply hurt, but before she could even say or do anything in reply, Naruto was growling back a retort of his own.

"She's a hero!" he snapped.

"She's a woman!" the advisor countered with a haughty smirk. "She'll never be worth anything!"

Hinata just looked away at this. Finally, somebody went ahead and verbalized her own opinion of herself out loud for the entire world to hear. Worthless. She always knew she was nothing special. She was worthless, pathetic, and dishonorable. It was just the same horrible word, but hearing it out loud like this… it was all but unbearable to hear. And it was because she was a disgraceful woman and a failure of an heiress.

Naruto saw Hinata blink away a few tears out of the corner of his eye, and that was when he completely lost his cool. He seized hold of Ebisu by the collar of his shirt, and yanked him right off the ground, his generally warm, friendly blue eyes flashing dangerously icy cold. "Listen, you pompous—"

"That," interrupted an old, wise voice, "is enough!"

Everyone jumped upon hearing the commanding voice, and quickly looked up. The Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent were calmly walking down the last handful of steps from where they had been standing in front of the Honorable Families and their bodyguards so as to meet them where they were all standing. Their equally matching stern, unreadable expressions were still plastered to their faces.

Naruto quickly let go of Ebisu upon seeing the Hokage, the one who had spoken just now, leading the other Kage's right toward all of them. Ebisu quickly stepped back off to the side where Kakashi was still standing and holding up Orochimaru's sword as Naruto hurriedly moved to stand in front of Hinata like the others were doing, trying to shield her as best as he could, too.

"Uh, Old Man, other Kage's!" said Naruto rather nervously. "I… I've explained everything to you guys before, right? Surely there's no reason to—"

Hiruzen simply raised his hand to politely silence Naruto as the other three Kage's and the Lady Regent's brows all furrowed, and then gestured for him and his friends to all move aside. Naruto wasn't the only one to send Hinata an apologetic look. So did the others, but still, they couldn't disobey an order from any of the Kage's. They all courteously bowed to the five leaders before obediently moving aside so that only Hinata was left standing in front of the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent.

Hinata thickly gulped. She was standing in front of the five most powerful and influential people in all of the new Japan: the Hokage, the Mizukage Regent, the Raikage, the Tsuchikage, and the Kazekage. None of them looked all too happy with her. Whatever they said to her right now would seal her fate. She knew she really ought to say something to them of some kind, but all coherent thought seemed to zoom right out of her head the moment she was left standing face-to-face with all of the Kage's. The only thing she was capable of doing was making a polite, respectful bow before the five of them, but she didn't dare straighten up again after doing so. She stayed bent at the waist and just glanced nervously upwards at them by tilting her head ever so slightly up towards them through the silky blue curtain that her long, indigo-colored hair created around her face.

Ebisu, meanwhile, was smirking widely as he readied his pen and clipboard. The sooner the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent stated their judgment on the punishment for the Hyuuga heiress's acts of high treason, the sooner he could start writing out the official public execution orders.

Hiruzen, Mei, Ay, Onoki, and Rasa all ignored the smirk on the Kage advisor's face, as they were focused solely on Hinata. A sudden hush fell over everyone in the crowd down in the square. No one dared to so much as breathe loudly. Everyone wanted to know what the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent had decided upon when it came to the brave young woman who had decided to go against the law in order to become a ninja.

Hiruzen gazed down quite sternly at Hinata. "The five of us have all heard a great deal about you, Hinata Hyuuga," he began. It was so quiet, his simple words seemed to echo throughout the entire courtyard, and everyone in the assembly was able to hear him perfectly.

Hinata froze. That certainly didn't sound good. Whatever Ebisu had reported to the five of them had to have been really, _really_ bad if they were all this angry…

"You stole your father's armor," declared the Hokage.

"Ran away from home," stated the Mizukage Regent.

"Impersonated a Hyuuga clan ninja," growled the Raikage.

Whispers broke out rapidly throughout the crowd down below in the courtyard as they listened to the mounting accusations, each one worse than the last. Naruto and the others all couldn't help but wince as they listened to the Kage's verbally announce all of Hinata's crimes for the entire country to hear. Hinata, however, didn't say anything in her own defense. What could she say? Everything the Kage's and the Lady Regent were saying was the truth, after all. She simply shut her pearlescent eyes and allowed the blame to soak in, waiting for them to declare before everyone just as Ebisu had done of how worthless she really was.

"Deceived your commanding officers," spat the Tsuchikage.

"Dishonored the Allied Shinobi Forces," added the Kazekage.

"Destroyed part of the Imperial Palace!" accused the Hokage, even waving one of his hands in the direction of the blown out wall and pillar that still had yet to be repaired. _"And—"_

Hinata couldn't stop herself from squeezing her eyes shut tightly and visibly cringing when she heard how sharp the Hokage's last word was. There was no doubt at all in her mind. She was to face the executioner's block. She would be either beheaded or hanged. His next words were for sure to be of how dishonorable and pathetic she really was after all.

After half a second, Hiruzen continued.

But his next words were not cruel.

They were gentle.

"You have saved us all."

Nothing could have prepared Hinata to have heard those five simple words. She hesitantly opened her eyes with a look of surprise across her face. She blinked a bit, and then very slowly straightened back up again as she swept her indigo tresses out of her eyes. To her complete astonishment, Lord Hiruzen, Lord Onoki, and Lady Mei were all smiling warmly at her while Lord Ay and Lord Rasa were smirking in mirth, as though any minute now they would all start heartily laughing for all of the unneeded stress and worry they had just now put her through.

Hinata's beautiful pearl-like eyes blinked again. She was confused. Why weren't they telling her that she was a dishonorable stain on her family tree? Why weren't they declaring out her execution orders? Why were they smiling like that at her? She was a pathetic girl. She was worthless… wasn't she?

The young Hyuuga princess opened her mouth to start asking the five of them these questions, but before anything else happened, the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent all respectfully bowed to her, and all rational thought flew right out of Hinata's head.

She wasn't the only person there who was shocked by this. For a full five seconds, the entire city was so quiet, one could hear a pin dropped if they listened hard enough. No one there — ninja or civilian, servant or nobility — could believe what they were witnessing. The Four Kage's and the Lady Regent were actually bowing to Hinata, and everyone recognized what this symbolized. If the five of them were to ever bow to another, they were admitting that he — or in this case 'she' — was their superior in some way, but this had never actually happened before, all five of them bowing down all at once to one person, and above all, that person so happened to be a woman.

As Hinata tried to wrap her head around the fact that all five Kage's were all bowing to her, someone else overcame their shock first, and it was none other than the snooty Kage advisor Ebisu.

A loud, startled shriek that happened to sound rather feminine escaped Ebisu's lips, and his handy brown clipboard slipped out of his hands as he literally flung himself down on the ground so as to get down on his hands and knees in a very respectful bow. Regardless of his prejudices against the female race and truly despising Hinata to the same extent that he despised Naruto, Ebisu was loyal toward his boss, the Hokage, as well as the other three Kage's and the Lady Regent. If they were publicly acknowledging that this young woman was superior to them, he would be damned if he didn't do the same.

The members of the Honorable Families were especially shocked to see the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent all bowing down to Hinata. They hadn't known exactly what the Kage's had been planning to do when it came to the Hyuuga heiress, whether or not she would be honored, disgraced, or publicly executed, but they had all been hoping that she would at least be spared from death. What they were witnessing now went far beyond anything they could have ever possibly imagined. After a half second pause as they fully absorbed what was happening, they too all bowed down respectfully to the pearlescent-eyed young girl.

Naruto and the rest of the team of ninja heroes were staring at the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent with their jaws dropped. The nine of them had all been praying and hoping that the five leaders of Japan would not only pardon Hinata for her deceit of her true gender so as to join the Allied Shinobi Forces, but also be able to recognize that she was an amazing girl and truly one of a kind. The fact that the five of them were actually bowing down before her… it knocked them all for a loop for several seconds. The moment that they all saw Ebisu and the members of the Honorable Families bowing down as well, they too knelt down on the ground at Hinata's feet, and bowed down before her on their hands and knees.

Hinata's mind was completely blank as she watched the Kage's, the Honorable Family members, and Naruto and all her army friends bowing down before her. She hadn't the faintest idea what she was supposed to be thinking, and she stumbled back a few paces in shock as she tried to absorb what was happening. There was a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye, and she glanced curiously over her shoulder to see what was going on, but then completely spun around in absolute awe.

Everyone in attendance out in the crowd — man or woman, young or old, civilian or ninja, peasant or noble — was suddenly mimicking the actions of the people standing around her on the landing of the palace stairs. Most were actually getting down on their hands and knees on the ground to show their utmost gratitude and respect to Hinata as they bowed before her, but those who were too weak to fall down to their knees still tried to show her the respect she rightfully deserved by simply bowing down as far as they could at the waist. It was a great sea of people, all from various regions and lands in Japan and coming from a variety of different backgrounds, and yet, they were all bowing to her!

Everything was surreal to the young Hyuuga princess, and she literally had to discreetly pinch the skin on the back of her hand to make sure that she wasn't still dreaming. How was this possible…? They were all bowing to her, honoring her. But wasn't she a disgrace? What happened to her punishment? She was supposed to be told right now by the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent that she was to be hanged or beheaded, right? Nothing could have prepared her for this moment, and she was left spinning around in place several times as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that the entire country of Japan was thanking her for all her deeds rather than shunning her for them.

Despite being noble-born, Hinata knew, even without thinking lowly of herself as she generally did, that it wasn't like she was born extraordinarily special.

She was just one girl.

An ordinary, shy girl.

And yet, the world no longer thought of her that way.

To them, she was their savior.

* * *

High above the stone steps of the palace, on the ledge of an empty window, two certain spirit animals, a little white rabbit spirit and a nine-tailed orange fox guardian, had been watching the proceedings silently from their perch on the window sill, but upon seeing the entire population of human beings in the city bowing down before their human charge, the little white bunny starting weeping tears of joy into her little front paws, and the orange fox started to smirk.

"Well, what do you know? Our girl finally grew up and managed to save Japan…" Kurama noted, sounding dead impressed.

Tiny Usagi squeaked happily between her happy tears and excitedly hopped up and down in place in reply.

* * *

Hinata's cheeks were both stained a rosy shade of red as everyone in the square slowly straightened back up again, the only difference being that her status in life was now and forever changed.

She was no longer 'Hinata, the Disgraceful Heiress.'

She was now 'Hinata, the Heroine of Japan.'

The thought was daunting to the timid young girl, and she self-consciously tucked a loose strand of her long blue hair behind her ear as she shyly turned back around to face the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent again, her cheeks only growing brighter with each passing second.

Onoki chuckled when he caught sight of the red tinge staining her cheeks. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I know for a fact that I like this one," he commented. "I actually wouldn't mind if she were to stay here in the city permanently."

"I agree with you, Lord Tsuchikage," said Mei with a warm smile. "It's nice to see a woman stepping up and taking charge. I vote we offer her a permanent position here in the palace."

The Tsuchikage, the Raikage, and the Kazekage all nodded in agreement to Lady Mei's suggestion, but Hinata blinked twice, thoroughly confused. They wanted to give her a job as a palace handmaiden? That was a respectable position for any young girl, civilian or noble born, but Hinata didn't understand why they wanted to offer her that job for all her deeds in her endeavor to save Japan.

Hiruzen also nodded at the idea that the Mizukage Regent had proposed, and with all five of them in unanimous agreement, he turned at once toward his trusted advisor. "Ebisu?" he called out.

Ebisu immediately stepped forward, puffing out his chest and trying to look important as he readied his pen and clipboard. "Lord Hokage?" he answered promptly.

Hiruzen smiled, and proudly gestured to the still bewildered Hyuuga heiress. "See to it that this young woman is made a member of the Imperial Council," he ordered.

Hinata's beautiful pearlescent eyes became as wide as saucers as Ebisu stared in utter shock at his boss's command.

"A member of — your — What?!" he spluttered, sounding completely horrified by the notion. With the obvious exception of Lady Mei, the only other woman allowed on the Imperial Council was Lady Tsunade, and that was only because she was the best medic in all of Japan. Excluding the two of them, women were generally forbidden from taking up any available position on the high council, and it wasn't exactly a well kept secret that Ebisu was a very prejudiced type of person. He disliked Naruto for being half-Uzumaki, and he definitely disliked Hinata simply because she was a woman, and he considered women to be highly inferior. He fumbled for a moment as he tried to think up some type of excuse for why Hinata could not be given such a highly honored position. "But… um… There are currently no council positions open, Lord Kage's, Lady Regent," he swiftly lied, moving away a few paces as a rather smug expression spread across his face.

Hinata knew that she really ought to feel insulted by how far Ebisu was going when it came to being rude to her, but she was still trying to comprehend all that was happening. It was when the Raikage started cruelly snickering that she tuned back in to the matter at hand.

"No open positions open, you say?" said Ay, sounding rather amused. "That's funny. I distinctly remember you saying before the war broke out that you were having trouble finding noteworthy people to fill the positions of more than one empty council chair seat. They're still open, you know…"

Rasa smirked as he turned to face Hiruzen. "I also recall that discussion. Lord Hokage? I never realized that you tolerated having such a dishonest ninja as your personal advisor," he said with a raised brow.

Ebisu sweated as the Hokage chuckled. He was caught in his lie. Finally, Hiruzen looked back at the still very quiet Hinata. "Very well. I suppose you can have his job," he told her.

The advisor became as white as a sheet in his horror. "W-What — m-my…? Oh!" He all but collapsed in a very near faint at this announcement. His clipboard and pen both spun about in the air for a moment, but then they fell down beside his sprawled out body with soft clinks.

"Ebisu-sensei!" cried out the young Konohamaru worriedly from where he was standing with the rest of the Honorable Family members. His mother, sister, and aunt all quietly shushed him, but they were almost complete drowned out by the loud bouts of laughter resounding from Naruto, Kiba, Lee, Choji, and Kankuro as they slapped their knees from how hard they were laughing while Sasuke, Gaara, Shikamaru, and Shino all smirked triumphantly at the sight as they folded their arms across their chests. Even Kakashi was grinning a bit from where he was still standing quietly off to the side. It was nice to see the bully finally put down in his place.

Other than the Honorable Grandson Konohamaru, there was only one person there that was worried for Ebisu, and her genuinely kind nature surfaced as she hurried over to where the sunglasses-wearing shinobi was lying in shock on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked, concern evident in her voice as she offered the ninja her hand to help him back up. It didn't matter to Hinata that Ebisu had been nothing but cruel to her ever since she first met him when he arrived in her home village to pass out the draft notices for the war. She was a kind and gentle person, and had never been known to hold a grudge.

Ebisu blinked twice when he saw just who it was that was offering to help him back to his feet again with nothing short of a warm, genuine smile on her face as she held out her hand to him. Anyone else in her position would have either laughed like Naruto and the others were doing, or simply just gloated in the fact that she was now considered more important and valuable to the Kage's than he was.

But not her.

No, Hinata was far too kind to ever consider doing such cruel things.

It just showed how much of a good person she was on the inside.

The advisor was far too proud to dignify Hinata with any sort of a response to her question about his well being, but he did give her his hand and allowed her to help him stand back up. As soon as he was upright once again, he turned his face away from Hinata and started dusting himself off with as much dignity as he could muster. Truth be told, Hinata didn't really mind all that much. She was simply glad that he hadn't fainted all the way and was well again.

After a moment, Hinata focused her attention back on the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent, and her cheeks turned pink once again. "Um… W-With all due respect, Lord Kage's, Lady Regent… I… I am afraid I must respectfully decline your generous offer…" she said rather timidly.

A hopeful look appeared on Ebisu's face, but everyone else in attendance had to blink twice when they heard Hinata say this. She was turning down a position on the Imperial Council? A position that many others would even die for? What on earth had to be the reasoning behind this thought process?

The five leaders looked especially taken aback by the answer Hinata had just given them, but they were all good at hiding their true emotions, and simply raised their eyebrows at her.

"Is that so?" asked Hiruzen curiously. "May we ask why?"

The shy heiress's cheeks brightened to a pretty shade of scarlet in her embarrassment. "Well, I… I believe that I've been away from home long enough, sirs, madam…" she explained nervously. "My life is back there with the rest of my clan, and… and I _do_ miss my family…"

Upon hearing Hinata's reason, all five leaders either smiled or smirked at her.

"Ah, that makes sense," acknowledged Mei.

"A pity, no doubt, but we can't fault you for that," agreed Onoki.

"Your clan _would_ probably throw a fit if they lost such a worthy member," noted Ay.

"The best of luck to you, then," stated Rasa.

"We completely understand," said Hiruzen, his smile filled with kindness once again. "But we do hope you will at least accept these…"

He gestured toward the servant that had been standing off to the side holding up the pillow with the last medal resting on top of it, and then motioned for Kakashi to come forward, which he did, all the while still carrying Orochimaru's sword in front of him.

With gentle fingers, Hiruzen delicately picked up the large gold medal off the pillow, and gingerly hung it over Hinata's neck.

"A medal," he told her, "so that your family and clan will know what you have done for the five of us, as well as our families. And the sword Kusanagi," he went on, carefully taking the sword from Kakashi and handing it to the considerably silent heiress. "So the world will know what you have done for Japan."

Hinata glanced down at the gold medal around her neck and at the silver katana sword in her hands for several moments as tears welled in her eyes. She had not joined the war for honors like this, but she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that receiving these war tokens made her heart surge in joy. Her father would be oh so happy when she presented him with these items. Those thoughts raced in Hinata's mind as she carefully adjusted her grip on the hilt of the sword, and then kept the blade safely pointed downwards as she leapt forward and hugged Hiruzen.

The Hokage blinked several times in surprise, but before he could do anything at all, Hinata was already releasing him, and was then hugging the stupefied Raikage. She hugged each one of them, in fact: the Tsuchikage, the Kazekage, and the Mizukage Regent, not even caring at all that doing so was a breach in decorum. Rasa and Ay were not the type to show any kind of affection, and they both just stood there rather rigidly as she hugged them, but as soon as Hiruzen, Mei, and Onoki realized what she was doing, they all chuckled in amusement. Hinata Hyuuga was certainly a very unique girl, that was clear to the five of them.

The other ninjas just blinked twice when they saw Hinata do this. "Is she allowed to do that?" Choji whispered.

Eight other shrugs from his male comrades answered him.

Finally, Hinata finished hugging each of the five leaders and stepped back with the biggest, brightest smile imaginable on her face. "Thank you so much, Lord Kage's, Lady Regent," she said appreciatively. "Really, thank you! I… I h-honestly don't even know what else to say except thank you!"

Her words earned a small chuckle from Onoki. "Well, young lady, I hope you manage to find your words by tonight."

"Yes," said Mei with a nod. "It wouldn't be very good if the Heroine of Japan were so quiet at the end-of-the-war gala being thrown thanks to her heroic deeds."

A small 'eep!' escaped Hinata's lips upon hearing this, and she jolted a bit as her cheeks flushed red once again. "A g-gala…?" she repeated.

Hiruzen chuckled at her nervous reaction to this proclamation. "Held in your honor of course, Lady Hinata. Our servants will be more than happy to help you get ready."

Before Hinata could say anything in reply, be it exclaiming her surprise that a grand party was being held for her or even trying to politely protest taking advantage of the Imperial Palace servants simply to help her get ready, Hiruzen was snapping his fingers and gesturing for Matsuri and a few of her fellow handmaiden friends to come up the stairs at once. The lovely young girls were quick to follow the order of the Hokage, and hurried up the stairs at a fast, but still respectable pace.

"Please see that she's ready for the gala tonight," the wise leader kindly requested them.

"Yes, Lord Hokage," Matsuri and the other handmaidens all chorused. And without another word, they seized the red-faced, startled Hinata by her hands or arms, and began dragging her back up the stone steps to go back through the main entrance of the palace so as to hurry and prepare her for the grand party, leaving behind the rest of her friends who were all either blinking twice when they saw her being whisked away like this, or simply smiling and smirking when they caught sight of the flustered look on her face.

Out of all of the younger generation of shinobi, only one was watching Hinata with a fiery intensity in his eyes, and that one happened to be a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed hyperactive boy that favored the color orange.

* * *

Hinata had forgotten just how hard it was to be a girl during her few months of pretending to be a man. She had only skimmed the surface of the difference in the two genders a few weeks ago when she borrowed Princess Temari's kimono in order to disguise herself, but other than that, she really hadn't done all that much to change her appearance, as there hadn't been a lot of time. But that was something that wouldn't happen twice, and the Hyuuga heiress was not at all afraid to admit to herself that she was the tiniest bit frightened of what these servants were planning to do to her in order to get her ready for the grand feast.

After all, men didn't have to worry about suffering to be beautiful.

The moment that Matsuri and the other handmaidens had led her back to the small guest room that she had been recovering in, a few of them zipped right out of the room without another word while Matsuri and the rest all but forced Hinata down into a chair in front of the vanity table and began working on her hair. Hinata couldn't help but be somewhat reminded a bit of her appointment with Lady Shizune back at the beauty salon before her awful matchmaking session with Lady Anko three months ago as the excited young girls ran brushes and combs through her hair at such a fast rate that she couldn't help but visibly wince whenever they worked on untangling particularly painful knots.

"You're a brave girl, you know that, Lady Hinata?" Matsuri said kindly at a seemingly random moment as she finished fixing her long, indigo-colored hair up in an elegant bun with a set of dainty chopsticks. "What you did…? That was something!"

Her words made Hinata blink a bit in surprise. She still wasn't exactly used to people thinking that she was actually worth something. Hell, she wasn't even sure if she actually believed it! And yet, everyone was looking up to her now. She was the center of attention. That was something that the shy Hyuuga princess had never been comfortable with.

But before Hinata could say anything in reply, Matsuri and the other servant girls were spinning her around in her chair so that they could start applying all types of cosmetics and make-ups to her porcelain face. Again, just like back in her beauty session all those months ago, Hinata felt the urge to sneeze as fumes of powder tickled her nose when the girls applied a soft pink blush to her cheeks for extra color and then went on to apply a soft purple eye-shadow to both of her eyelids. It wasn't as though she didn't want to look her absolute best at a grand party being held here in the Imperial Palace, but why did she have to endure make-up? It always ended up making her face feel heavy…

The girls were just adding a touch of black eyeliner to her eyes and dabbing a bit of light pink lipstick on her lips to make them look soft and pretty when the door opened to reveal the other handmaidens that had left earlier, the only difference being that they were now delicately carrying a beautiful silk kimono that was dyed a soft purple color along with a snow white obi and a matching purple hand fan. It didn't have the white flower patterns like the one her mother had bought her for her matchmaking session back before she had even learned about the war outbreak, but Hinata thought that it still indeed looked lovely. It was simple, but still quite beautiful in its own unique way.

The handmaidens hurried to dress her, and when they were done, they allowed Hinata to take a peek at her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror against the wall. Hinata was surprised to see that she genuinely liked how she looked right now. The girls hadn't gone overboard with her make-up like Lady Shizune had done. They had applied enough to cover up her blemishes and make her look relatively pretty, but they had only done that and nothing more. Apparently they had all recognized that she was nervous to act and look like a girl once again, and had tried to keep her appearance as simple as possible so as to make her feel more comfortable. Not that she would ever tell anyone this out loud, but she actually liked how she looked now a lot more than she had liked how she looked all extravagantly dressed when meeting with Lady Anko.

"Thank you all," she said shyly to the handmaidens looking up expectantly at her when she finally turned away from the mirror. "Thank you for all y-you've done for me…"

"It was no trouble at all, Lady Hinata," said Matsuri kindly. "We are all happy to help. You are our hero, after all!"

Hinata turned beet red at being called a hero so casually, but she never got the chance to comment on the title, because she was suddenly being ushered back out the door by all of the giggling servant girls. They led her through the many winding passages throughout the palace for what seemed like an eternity to the shy young heiress, until finally, they went down a corridor where all of the paper lanterns on the wall were lit, and in the distance, music and chatter could be heard.

They finally came to a stop outside of a set of doors that led to main ballroom in the palace, and Matsuri and the other handmaidens all bowed respectfully to Lady Hinata in farewell.

"Have a good time, Lady Hinata. You of all people deserve to have fun tonight."

And with that, she and the other girls all vanished behind a beautiful tapestry that concealed a servant door so that they too could join the party as inconspicuously as possible. Hinata was a little nervous to be entering the ballroom all on her own, but she forced herself to take a deep breath for courage, and then gently pushed open the ballroom door as lightly as she could, and slipped inside as quietly as possible.

None of the Four Kage's or the Lady Regent were in attendance yet, so the party had yet to officially begin, but that didn't stop people from mingling amongst themselves or the members of the orchestra from playing moderately fast paced melodies on their instruments. Although the main section of the beautiful white tiled floor was cleared away for dancing later on, there were small round tables on the sides of the room for people to sit down and eat once dinner was served. There was even a long table against one wall covered in glasses of the finest wines and sakes from every region in the country. Everyone was dressed up very formally for tonight in the finest kimonos or yukatas that they owned. Overall, even though the party had yet to officially begin, everyone looked as though they were having a good time.

Trying to remain as invisible as possible, Hinata stayed as close to the walls as she could as she searched for any sign of her friends. She didn't want to attract too much attention to herself. She knew the party was partially being thrown because of her, but still, Hinata had never been comfortable being the center of attention. Not even when her own parents threw extravagant birthday parties for her as the Hyuuga clan heiress while she was growing up. So long as she tried to stay out of sight until she found Naruto and the others, or the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent arrived to officially start the party, she could avoid having to be in the spotlight for at least a few minutes more.

Unfortunately, things never seemed to work out the way Hinata wanted. She had been tiptoeing her way past a large group of chattering nobles near one of the small tables when one of the men at the table pushed his chair backwards. As he stood up from the table, his elbow accidentally bumped into Hinata's side, and she made an involuntary small squeak of surprise. The little sound she had made was barely audible, but it succeeded in attracting the attention of everyone at the table, and all their heads immediately snapped in her direction. Before Hinata could try and slip quietly away, everyone started crowding around, wanting to get an up close look at the famed Heroine of Japan. People all over the room soon realized what was going on, and they too joined in on the throng, wanting to catch a glimpse of the Hyuuga heiress. Hinata was unable to say or do anything to try and escape the attention. She found herself literally being sandwiched between a series of bodies as everyone started jabbering in her ear, congratulating her and asking her questions, not that she could understand what anyone was even saying due to the blood pounding in her ears. All she could really do was stand there with a bright red face and mentally pray to the gods that some type of divine intervention would appear and rescue her from this frenzied mob.

"Yo! Get back, you vultures! Give her some space!"

Two angry barks followed this angry exclamation.

Hinata's hopes soared as she looked up. Kiba and his dog Akamaru, Choji, and Lee were all pushing their way through the crowd of nobles to try and get to her. Like her, they were all dressed up very formally for the event, but that didn't stop them from jostling both men and women out of their way so they could clear a path toward her. When they finally reached her, Lee and Choji both seized hold of her hands while Kiba and Akamaru glared threateningly at anyone that attempted to step forward to stop them from escorting Hinata away. As soon as they had successfully managed to drag her out of earshot of the group of excited nobles, Kiba chuckled.

"Well, I'll give you this, Hinata. You certainly know how to make an entrance!"

"Yosh! I must agree! Everyone is so eager to know everything about you!" exclaimed Lee.

"Are you okay, Hinata? You look a little red," Choji commented.

Hinata lightly shook her head from side to side to rid herself of the slight lightheadedness she was currently experiencing. "I-I'll be okay… I'm just a little overwhelmed, is all…"

Kiba snickered. "You really are too shy for your own good, Stutters!"

Hinata blushed a bit as Akamaru yapped twice in agreement to his master's words. She didn't get the chance to reply to his words, though, as she suddenly saw just where her three friends were leading her to. Sitting around one of the tables in a corner of the ballroom were the rest of her fellow ninja comrades, chatting amiably amongst one another as they waited for her to arrive. Upon seeing her being towed toward them by Kiba, Choji, and Lee, all of them stopped whatever conversations they were currently having and politely stood up for her. Hinata blushed at their courteous greeting.

"H-Hello, everyone…" she said rather shyly.

"Hinata, you look lovely this evening," said Shino, his generally monotone voice sounding very kind.

"Yes. Very pretty," agreed Shikamaru with a small smile.

Sasuke nodded once at her, but his attention was diverted elsewhere. He was trying to be as discreet as possible, but no one there missed how his eyes were flickering every so often toward the High Table where the Honorable Families were currently sitting at. His eyes would appraise the form of Sakura chatting behind her red hand fan with her mother Lady Tsunade every few seconds, but would then jolt back toward the rest of the group as soon as he realized what he was doing, and he fought to keep his face in its usual stoic expression. Hinata had to bite down hard on her tongue to suppress the urge to giggle. It was very funny to her, how much Sasuke was refusing to admit to himself the feelings he had developed for the Land of Fire princess.

These thoughts only stayed in her mind for a few seconds, though, because her attention was soon fixed on just which one of her comrades was stepping forward so as to get a better look at her. Naruto was dressed up for the party in a formal black yukata, but his spiky blonde hair was kept in its usual untidy style, as it was too wild to tame in any way. Nonetheless, he still looked very handsome, and Hinata's entire face flamed bright red when she saw him.

"N-Naruto!" she stuttered, fighting the urge to sound too happy to see him. "Good… Good evening…"

"H-Hey, Hinata…" said Naruto with much embarrassment, a barely noticeable red tinge staining his own cheeks as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "You… You look nice!"

"Thank you…" she whispered back, glancing shyly down at her feet.

An awkward silence filled the void between them as the others exchanged knowing looks and fought the urge to chuckle at their expense. It was almost too obvious how much the sparks were flying between the Hyuuga heiress and the Namikaze heir. It was easy for all of them to see that Hinata definitely had feelings for Naruto. The question was, did Naruto even realize that what he felt for Hinata was something other than friendship? He was an idiot, after all.

It was only when Hinata noticed just who was missing among their group that she found the willpower to break the tense silence.

"Where's… Where's Kankuro? And Gaara?" she asked curiously.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but jabbed his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the High Table. "Sitting over there with their troublesome sister," he grumbled.

"You forget, Hinata, that although they do not brag about it often, they are just as much princes as their sister Temari is a princess," Shino explained. "They are required to sit with the rest of the Honorable Families until the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent arrive and the party officially starts. Afterwards, they are free to come over here if they please."

"Oh, I see," said Hinata understandingly. She turned her head to look over at the High Table. Sure enough, both of the Sand Brothers were seated beside their elder sister and were engaged in a rapt conversation with her. They seemed to sense her gaze, and quickly turned their heads. Kankuro grinned widely and waved to her, and even Gaara allowed a small smile to flicker across his face as he nodded politely. Hinata was about to smile and politely wave back, but that was when Princess Temari curiously looked over to see who they were both looking at. Upon realizing that it was she, Hinata Hyuuga, who had caught their attention, Temari's curious look turned immediately into one of complete intrigue. Hinata wasn't sure what to make of this new expression, but all she knew for sure was that she was embarrassed to have caught the attention of the Sunaese princess. With bright red cheeks, she nodded politely to the twenty-year-old woman, and then quickly looked away. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass herself in front of any of the Honorable Family members.

"So tell us, Hinata, how does it feel to be the esteemed Heroine of Japan?" asked Choji curiously.

Hinata blushed as she and the others all took seats at the table. She really didn't know how she was supposed to answer this question. She was sure they were all expecting her to answer with something along the lines of 'Great!' or even 'It's an honor!', but that wasn't at all how she felt, but it wasn't like she could admit to them that she didn't feel worthy of this new praise.

"Well… I don't know, to be honest…" she said bashfully.

"Aw, come on, Stutters! We're all friends here! Indulge us!" Kiba urged.

"But it's n-not like I'm really lying, Kiba… If… If I were to take a guess, I suppose I would say overwhelmed came close…"

"Overwhelmed?! How could your flames of youth be overwhelmed?!" cried Lee, sounding completely befuddled by Hinata's answer. "If I were in your shoes, I would be overjoyed! I would be so happy to know that I brought great honor to both my parents and the great tutelage of Gai-sensei!"

"Hn. I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Lee here," Sasuke cut in. "I know you're not the type to brag, but if there was ever a time to actually feel proud of yourself, this would be it."

"Because… Because I'm not used to any of this," she replied. "I may be noble-born and the heiress to my clan but… but I'm not used to people praising me or being at decadent p-parties like this. At least not other than the ones my clan sometimes throws."

"Don't be troublesome on purpose, Hinata," Shikamaru muttered. "Surely you've been invited to other clan parties before."

"Indeed. I believe you mentioned before that there is another prominent clan in your hometown. Have you not visited their compound on formal occasions?"

"W-When did I ever say that?"

"Lee told us that you found the clan head of a fellow clan in your village at the remains of the village back in the mountains," Shino explained.

Hinata's expression immediately fell as she recalled discovering Lord Inoichi's fallen body on the battlefield. "Oh, you are referring Lord Inoichi, the head of the Yamanaka clan," she said, not even bothering to hide the sad tone in her voice.

"My apologies if I brought up any bad memories, but might I inquire as to why you do not think of them when considering parties or galas while growing up?"

There was a brief pause as Hinata considered how she was to avoid explaining her home situation to all of them without making it seem as though she was trying to intentionally earn their sympathy. How could she tell any of them that once it became clear to the elders in her clan that she was turning out to be a failure as both a young woman and as the Hyuuga clan heiress, they did everything in their power to prevent her from attending functions with the other small clan in her village so that she wouldn't accidentally be an embarrassment to the clan? They would often suggest that Hiashi ought to attend such gatherings alone or simply accompanied by her mother, or even just send Neji as the clan representative. Looking back at the matter as the woman she was now, she actually couldn't help but feel somewhat angry at their treatment of her simply because she was different. If they hadn't interfered like that, maybe she would have had Ino as a friend while growing up instead of just being a passing acquaintance.

Still though, she had some scrap of pride inside her, and her pride would never allow her to admit this to any of them. Her life while growing up as the Hyuuga heiress might not have been perfect considering that she was always under scrutiny by the clan elders, but she was sure that there were worse ways to spend one's childhood. She had had every luxury while growing up and had never once wanted for anything. Meanwhile there were people out there that begged for scraps on the streets and spent their nights sleeping under bridges. She really had no right to complain when looking at the situation in that retrospect.

"I… Well… I-I-I am not all that close to the Yamanaka clan, you see, so… so other than simply paying respects to his body while at that village, I really only know them as acquaintances…"

She chuckled half-heartedly at her own statement, hoping beyond hope itself that none of them would press her for details and would simply accept her meager explanation.

Everyone at the table stared at her for several moments with unreadable expressions on their faces. She honestly had no idea what any of them could possibly be thinking. Finally, after what seemed like the longest silence Hinata had ever known, Naruto opened his mouth so as to say something, but at that moment the Four Kage and the Mizukage Regent strolled inside the ballroom and stood at attention beside their seats at the High Table. Naruto immediately closed his mouth as all the noise in the room quickly died away so that everyone could give the country's leaders their full and undivided attention.

Hiruzen and the others didn't waste time on any big speeches. They simply thanked everyone for attending their party and then each said a pleasantry of some sort that they should all be grateful that the war was finally over, and when they were all finally done, a number of servants strolled throughout the room with trays filled with glasses of sparkling white wine, which they all courteously passed out to the guests. Once they were done, the servants respectfully stepped back against the wall as the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent all raised their glasses so as to propose a toast.

"To Japan!" they said together.

"To Japan!" chorused everyone else in the room, they too raising their wine glasses before taking small sips from their drinks.

Hinata wasn't one to indulge in drinking wine or sake on a daily basis while at home, but even she couldn't deny that the wine she was sipping now was the sweetest she had ever tasted. She would have to be very careful tonight not to drink too much and become tipsy.

As servants once again strolled throughout the ballroom, this time laden down with trays of exquisite entrées for dinner, everyone at the table watched as Kankuro and Gaara quietly excused themselves from the High Table and made their way across the room so as to join their table.

"What's up, everyone?" greeted Kankuro with a cheeky grin as he sidled his way into one of the only two available chairs as Gaara seated himself down in the other. "What did Baby Bro and I miss while away?"

"Other than Hinata deciding to lie to everyone again, not much, really," said Naruto nonchalantly, but his eyes never once turned away from Hinata's face.

Hinata froze in the midst of setting down her glass as Gaara and Kankuro gave Naruto quizzical expressions while everyone else nodded in agreement to his words.

"Lied how?" Gaara inquired.

"Shino and Shikamaru here were just asking her why she's so overwhelmed by this party when she should be used to attending parties considering she's the Hyuuga heiress, but she just informed us that it's because she barely knows the only other real clan in her village, so she hasn't attended their parties. That's obviously a lie, because acquaintances or not, as the heiress to her own clan, she should have still been invited to their clan parties."

Hinata's breath completely stilled upon hearing the obvious hole in her minor fib as Kankuro and Gaara both nodded in agreement to Naruto's reasoning.

"Yo, Hinata! Why are you lying to us?! I thought we were all pals!" Kankuro exclaimed, a deep frown on his face.

"It is unbecoming to lie about something so minor," Gaara added, his gaze sharp.

Hinata thickly gulped. "It's… It's nothing really… I just… W-Well, I—"

"Gaara! Kankuro! How dare you two make the Heroine of Japan look so upset! Shame on you both!"

Everyone at the table quickly turned. How none of them noticed had that Gaara and Kankuro had been followed back to their table by none other than their older sister, the Princess Temari, none of them knew, but everyone there, including Hinata herself, quickly stood up from their chairs to bow respectfully to the young girl scarcely older than them.

Kankuro, despite having stood up from his chair, was scowling at his elder sister. "Temari! What the hell do you want?! Gaara and I already got permission from dad to eat elsewhere than at the High Table!"

Temari's teal eyes narrowed, but a cheeky grin spread across her face as she appraised her first younger brother. Without breaking eye contact with Kankuro, she reached down for his glass of sparkling wine on the table, and held it rather dangerously tilted at a slightly angled level until the liquid inside was so close to the rim of the cup, one sudden movement would send it spilling all over the front of Temari's pretty lilac kimono.

"Careful, Kankuro… Tempt me too much and I might just let my hand slip. What would everyone here think should I suddenly start screaming when I discover that my wine spilled? Why, I do think that they will all believe that you might have gotten angry and shoved me!"

Everyone at the table had to try and hide their laughter with distinct coughs or behind their hands as Kankuro gritted his teeth and clenched his fists up tight while glaring at his older sister. Even the generally emotionless Gaara looked somewhat miffed by her teasing.

"Temari, you'd do well to remember—"

"Remember what, Gaara? Remember that I'm still somewhat angry with you and Kankuro over the whole kimono incident? Granted, most of my rage is now directed at your friend Lee since he tore one of my favorite kimonos in two, but test me further and I might just let slip to everyone here about what happened in the _palace gardens…"_

No one, not even Kankuro, had any idea what it was Temari could be talking about, but it must have been something big, because Gaara's eyes suddenly narrowed in repressed rage.

"You wouldn't dare."

Temari's cheeky grin only grew. "Try me," she taunted.

There was a brief pause as everyone there waited to see what the red-haired boy would say or do in retaliation, but finally, Gaara simply shot her one last quick glare and then looked away. Temari grinned at her success.

"Sis, what dirt have you got on Gaara?!" Kankuro asked, almost sounding desperate. "How'd you manage to get _him_ of all people to sweat?!"

"Blackmail is one of the deadliest forms of weaponry that exists, Kankuro. You would do well to learn how to fight with it," she mysteriously answered. "I will tell you this, though. It has to do with a certain dark-haired handmaiden of mine!"

Gaara was growing more and more furious by the minute, and although his monotone expression never once shifted, his whole face turned as red as his hair in absolute fury. Kankuro looked completely desperate now to find out what his older sister knew.

"Temari! Did Gaara finally get laid?! Spill the beans! I need some leverage over him! I'll… I'll do anything!"

Princess Temari just cheekily grinned and wagged her finger mockingly in front of the puppeteer's face. "My blackmail, Kankuro! Go find your own!" she teased.

"Look, Troublesome Woman, what do you want? Can't you all see we're in the middle of a conversation here?" Shikamaru grumbled, propping his elbow on the tabletop and cupping his cheek with his hand.

Temari had the utmost mischievous look on her face as she turned to face the younger man. "Simple, Lazy Ass! I'm here to kidnap Lady Hinata!"

Hinata simply stared at the Kage Princess, struggling to process what she'd just heard Temari say, as Naruto immediately looked offended and started protesting.

"W-What?! Kidnap Hinata?! What the hell are you talking about, Temari?!"

Temari's eyes twinkled in the light of all the paper lanterns. "Just like I said, Naruto. I'm here to kidnap your female friend. Don't get me wrong, that wasn't my initial intention when first coming over. I was just planning to ask her if she would be kind enough to spare me and the rest of us girls in the royalty a moment of her time after dinner before all the dancing begins, but having witnessed all of you pester her to the point she looks like she might faint, I've decided to simply steal her away from all of you!"

Hinata squeaked and flushed bright red when the rather forward Sunaese princess suddenly lunged forward and seized hold of her hand, dragging her out of her chair and onto her feet.

"Y-Your Highness! I—"

"Yo! Sis! Don't go pulling any of your crazy shit with—"

"Oh, do be quiet, Kankuro!" Temari playfully snapped, ignoring Hinata's meager flustered protest all together. "You've all had this girl with you for over three months! You guys can have her back later! It's high time she enjoyed some feminine company! Oh, and Lazy Ass—" she added suddenly, seeming to have only just thought of something as she turned to face Shikamaru again. "—you better not be your usual lazy self later on. I expect no less than _three_ dances with you tonight, at the very least! Kankuro and Gaara? If either of you give him any trouble, expect full blown sisterly wrath after tonight's party! I'm older than both of you, remember, so I'm fully capable of making my own decisions!"

And without another word, Temari turned around sharply on her heel, and began marching back to the High Table while ignoring the red tinge on Shikamaru's face from her demand to dance with him later on, the furious scowls stamped on the faces of her two younger brothers, and the various protests from everyone else at the table as she dragged the dazed Hyuuga princess behind her.

Hinata couldn't even think straight. She was being dragged around by one of the most outspoken women she had ever met that was at least two years her senior, and on top of that was Kage royalty! She couldn't speak properly, and her usual stuttering was unfortunately returning to her voice due to how nervous she was.

"P-Princess Temari! I… I t-thank you for thinking so h-highly of me, but… but I could n-never _possibly_ impose—!"

Hinata was cut off by a small, amused laugh from the blonde-haired woman. "Impose? Don't be ridiculous! I insist you join us girls at the High Table for dinner! Heaven knows we women must stick together! Like I said before, I'd been planning to invite you over to officially meet the rest of us ladies after dinner, so this really is no trouble!"

Despite this reassurance from Temari, Hinata was still ill at ease. She was such a naturally shy person, so she had no idea how she was supposed to endure an entire meal at a table including not one, not two, but _all_ the royal women in the Honorable Families! What if she humiliated herself in front of all of them the same way she had humiliated herself with Lady Anko?! The indigo-haired girl desperately wanted to protest this arrangement, but she didn't dare speak up about her concerns. To refuse a demand of one of the Honorable Princesses would be disrespectful on a whole other level!

As Hinata struggled to calm herself from her mild panic attack, Temari crossed the last bit of the expanse of the ballroom, and Hinata got an up close look of all the members of the Honorable Families. The first time she had encountered them, it had only been for a passing second when Sasuke and Shikamaru had successfully rescued them from the balcony when they had been held hostage by Orochimaru. Other than simply looking them over quickly to make sure that they were all okay, Hinata had been too preoccupied by the prospect that the Kage's were still in danger and that Naruto was still fighting one-on-one with the snake summoner to really pay attention to them in detail. Killer Bee was busy chatting with his brother the Raikage, and the other three official Kage's were talking amongst themselves as they ate their dinner, so other than the fact that Prince Konohamaru was sitting in between his mother and sister, all the ladies at the table, including Lady Mei, were gathered together at one end of the beautiful mahogany surface as a number of palace servants set dishes for the first course of dinner down in front of them. Every head there quickly looked up in interest when they saw Temari return with Hinata in tow.

"Hey, Temari! Already back from tormenting your brothers?" asked Princess Kurotsuchi with a grin.

Temari laughed. "Naturally. It's so easy to make them squirm!"

Lady Tsunade brought her hand to her lips to politely conceal a snicker, but then her expression became serious. "It seems that you have brought a guest," she said, her gaze shifting to Hinata, who was fighting the urge to try and hide herself behind the tomboy princess that had dragged her over here without her consent.

Temari smirked as she elaborately gestured to the shy girl standing beside her. "Sakura, Tsunade, Mei, I know you three are already well acquainted with our esteemed heroine in one way or another, but as for the rest of you lot, allow me to introduce you to our guest for dinner, Lady Hinata Hyuuga! Lady Hinata—" she added, turning to face the pearlescent-eyed girl "—with the obvious exception of the small brat sitting over there in the corner—"

"Hey!" interrupted Prince Konohamaru. Lady Tsunade, Lady Kurenai, and Princess Sakura all shushed him to be quiet.

"—it is my great honor to introduce you to the people who really hold the most power amongst everyone in the Kage royalty! My fellow princesses Sakura and Kurotsuchi, Lady Tsunade, Lady Kurenai and her new daughter Mirai, and the Mizukage Regent herself, Lady Mei! Oh, and that annoying boy sitting over there is the small prince Konohamaru. Pay no attention to him. No one else does!"

Within seconds, the little twelve-year-old boy was pulling down the lower eye lid on his right eye with his pinky finger as he stuck his tongue out at the older woman. He quickly stopped when his mother shot him a cross look, and then, with great reluctance, he looked away from Temari so as to join the rest of the woman at the table in standing up and bowing respectfully to Hinata. Hinata grew lightheaded at the realization that this was the second time that members of Kage royalty were bowing to her again, but she luckily remembered her own manners and politely bowed back.

"It's a p-pleasure to meet all of you…" the young heiress whispered, too nervous to speak any louder.

"Hey," said Konohamaru, still pouting a bit as he spoke. "I'm supposed to tell you if I met you tonight that I'm very thankful to you for saving my grandpa's life, and the lives of the other Kage's and Lady Mei, too. So thanks, I guess."

Almost all the ladies there held up their hand fans close to their faces to hide their small giggles behind the pretty papers. The small prince was certainly very charming in his own childish way.

Even Hinata had to fight back a small laugh as she smiled kindly to the boy. "You're very welcome, P-Prince Konohamaru. I'm just glad that they are all okay."

Konohamaru nodded at her words, but judging by the look on his face, it almost seemed as though he was trying to figure out something about her. Hinata couldn't help but feel as though she were under scrutiny from the small child, and that if she failed to live up to whatever standard he was currently measuring her in, there would be serious consequences.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the indigo-haired heiress, when really it had only been a few short seconds, Konohamaru's puzzled expression only grew. "I don't get it…" he muttered.

Hinata blinked. "I beg your pardon, Prince Konohamaru?" she said slowly.

"I don't get it," Konohamaru repeated. "Ebisu-sensei told me that you were some kind of lying harlot, whatever that is, but I don't get that vibe from you, so I'm confused…"

Lady Kurenai's face turned bright red from embarrassment as she clutched her infant daughter close to her chest.

Princess Sakura nearly dropped her set of chopsticks from utter humiliation upon hearing what her little brother had just said.

Lady Tsunade looked downright mortified as she seized hold of the boy's shoulder.

"Konohamaru! You apologize to Lady Hinata this instant!" Lady Tsunade demanded.

"For what, Mom? I wasn't trying to be rude. I was just trying to figure out what Ebisu-sensei meant."

"Regardless, you will apologize to our guest!"

"Mother, I think it's high time you exchanged him for a politer son," Sakura chimed in. "I can't remember the last time I was ever so embarrassed by him!"

"Stay out of this, Sakura," Lady Tsunade warned her eldest child before focusing her attention back on her youngest. "Konohamaru, you will say 'sorry' to Lady Hinata right now or no dessert for a month!"

"What?!"

"You heard me. Now, tell Lady Hinata you're—"

She was cut off by a small, barely noticeable giggle.

Heads turned back toward Hinata, who was doing her best to stop giggling as she gazed fondly down at the small prince. "I… I apologize for laughing, but… but you r-remind me so much of my little sister," she said kindly to Konohamaru.

Any thoughts the ladies at the table might have had about punishing Konohamaru for his rude comment flew right out of everyone's heads as they gazed at the charming smile on Hinata's face. It appeared that it was true what they had all heard about the Hyuuga heiress from Lady Mei when she explained everything that Naruto and the others had told her and the other Four Kage's. Lady Hinata wasn't just a ninja warrior. She was kind and compassionate, too.

Konohamaru tilted his head to the side as he looked up at Hinata, clearly confused at the reference. "Should I take that as a compliment?" he asked. "I don't know your sister, so how am I supposed to know if being compared to her is a good thing or a bad thing?"

Hinata brought a hand up to her mouth to hide another small laugh. "It's a good thing, Prince Konohamaru," she assured him. "My s-sister Hanabi… She occasionally speaks without thinking sometimes, but she has a good heart. I was complimenting you."

A proud smile spread across the boy's face upon hearing that. "Thanks!" he cheered. "I don't know what exactly Ebisu-sensei was talking about when he called you that word, but I like you! I'll have to remember to offer you a position on the Imperial Council-thingy again when I'm Hokage someday!"

"Oh? You wish to become the Hokage someday, Prince Konohamaru?"

"You bet! Grandpa's a great Hokage and all, but he has to retire sometime! When I'm older and after Big Brother Naruto has his turn wearing the Hokage hat, I'm going to take over from him! Just wait and see! I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage the Land of Fire has ever had!"

"Well, you'll have my f-full support when you achieve your dream of being Hokage… provided that you go for it after Naruto, of course!"

"Right! Oh, and speaking of Naruto, can I go and sit at his table, Mom? I've barely seen him since he got back!"

"After you apologize to Lady Hinata, you may go," Tsunade instructed.

"Fine. Lady Hinata? I apologize if I offended you in any way."

Hinata giggled a bit more upon seeing his irritated eye roll. "You are forgiven," she said sweetly.

"Great! I'll see you all later!"

And before anything else could be said or his mother could change her mind, Konohamaru hurriedly bowed respectfully to Hinata one final time and then shot away from the table at top speed, trying to dodge around startled palace servants carrying trays of food for dinner as he ran towards his role model's table.

"Konohamaru! Walk, don't run!" Lady Kurenai called out after him. The boy slowed down a bit, but he still walked at a somewhat faster pace than appropriate for him.

As soon as he was gone, Lady Tsunade turned to Hinata with an apologetic smile on her face. "I would personally like to apologize to you for my son's behavior, Lady Hinata. He meant no harm."

Instantly, Hinata jumped in place a bit as her nerves set back in. The great Lady Tsunade was addressing her! Oh, by the mercy of all the gods she knew of, please do not let her stutter in this next sentence!

"It… It's quite all right, Lady Tsunade. I found the whole thing to be a-amusing, to be honest…"

Hinata was quite certain her face drained of all color when she was finished speaking. She stuttered again! Oh, the woman would surely think she was a stupid girl now!

But instead of fixing her with a disapproving look and a furrowed brow, Lady Tsunade's eyes brightened considerably and she smiled warmly at Hinata. "That's very kind of you to say, Lady Hinata. You have a good heart, I can tell."

Hinata blushed considerably at the compliment from the esteemed medic. She was undeserving of such high praise. She opened her mouth to deny the fact that she was special in any sort of way, but another voice beat her to the fact, and it wasn't just any voice. It was the voice of the only other woman at the table with a higher rank of authority than even Lady Tsunade.

"Forgive us, Lady Hinata. We're all being very rude towards you right now. Not even asking you to sit down!" laughed Lady Mei, her own face broken out in a smile of her own. "Please, take a seat!"

"Yes, please do be seated!" added Lady Kurenai pleasantly.

With a small, nervous gulp, Hinata nodded to the three older women before allowing Temari to literally drag her to an open chair beside her own, and slowly seated herself down in the mahogany wooded, plush upholstered chair. All the women at the table, from the Lady Regent to the Kage Princesses, all smiled warmly to the shy girl as a palace servant gently set a serving of dinner in front of her, but Hinata was too nervous to really notice any of them. Never in her life could she have imagined that she would one day share a meal amongst members of Kage royalty!

Too shy and nervous to possibly think up a topic of conversation, Hinata daintily took her chopsticks and swallowed the smallest bit of rice she could pick up. As she prepared to take another bite of her meal, however, Princess Kurotsuchi spoke up.

"You don't have to be so nervous, Lady Hinata. We might be royalty, but we're still normal people," she explained. "Actually, when you stop and think about it, all of us at this table are actually lower than you."

It took all the willpower Hinata possessed not to gawk at the princess from the Land of Earth. She couldn't believe that one of the royal Kage Princesses had just told her that she was of higher stature than any of them were!

"P-Princess Kurotsuchi, I… I am flattered by your compliment but I… I must respectfully disagree with what you just said!" Hinata exclaimed. "I… I am just a clan heiress. You and the other Kage Princesses, Lady Kurenai, Lady Tsunade, and Lady Mei are all leaps and bounds more important than I will ever be!"

Sakura smiled at her. "You're not only kind, you're humble, too," she mused. "And I'm afraid that everyone here has to disagree with your disagreement."

Lady Mei nodded at what Sakura said. "Princess Sakura is right, Lady Hinata. You may not think what you've done is a big deal, disguising yourself as a man and joining the army, but I don't think you realize the precedent that you've set and the hope you've inspired."

The blush died away from Hinata's cheeks and a puzzled expression took its place. "I am afraid I do not understand you, Lady Regent," she said hesitantly.

Temari grinned at her confusion. "Oh, come now, Lady Hinata! Surely you must know what you did was brave, at the very least!" she exclaimed. "You're the world's first female ninja!"

"Princess Temari, you flatter me with y-your praise, but… but I'm afraid there might be some misconceptions here. I wasn't trying to prove anything. I just… I just wanted to s-save my father's life…"

"And that reason alone is why what you've done is so inspiring!" stated Lady Tsunade. "You weren't trying to earn fame or glory. You were simply trying to protect someone that you love, and _that_ is a noble cause! You might not have meant to, but you managed to do something that each of us have been fighting to achieve for years now! You proved to the world that a girl can do anything! You showed everyone that a woman is _not_ second-rate!"

Hinata's face became red once again. "Lady Tsunade… you, Princess Sakura, and Lady Mei are a thousand times m-more inspiring than I could ever be! Lady Tsunade? You and your daughter practice medical ninjutsu! That's… That's supposed t-to be very difficult to perform, and together you're improving the conditions in hospitals all over Japan! L-Lady Mei? You are the Lady Regent of the Land of Water! Your position is temporary, but… but you're s-still the first female Kage ever! I'm just… I'm just _me!_ I'm not important at all when compared to the three of you!"

Lady Tsunade only smiled at her words. "I suppose looking at us from your perspective, we do seem much more important than you, but you are actually quite wrong about that, Lady Hinata."

"Do you believe that it's easy to be us, Lady Hinata?" Sakura asked. "It's hard to earn people's respect when you're going against the way things have always been done in the past, especially if you're a woman! My mother and I? We're Kage royalty, so people have to treat us with respect, but we're not fools! We're well aware of the fact that there are some people who look down on us because we study medical ninjutsu!"

"And surely you are aware of the threats that are made against me because I'm the temporary leader of Kirigakure at the moment, Lady Hinata?" Lady Mei added. "Assassins come after me on a daily basis."

"W-Wait… I thought that that was just because people are still mad about… about how your b-brother ran the country…"

"There are Land of Water ninjas that come after me because they're still angry with Yagura, yes," the Lady Regent agreed. "But there are also ninjas that come after me from all over Japan simply because they do not believe that a woman should be in charge of my region of the country. They do not care that I alone am the one who is bringing Kiri out of its current political turmoil. They simply want me off the Kage throne so another _male_ Kage can take my place."

"That's… That's terrible!"

"Indeed it is," Kurotsuchi said. "Which is why we need your help."

There was a long stretch of silence at that as Hinata studied the eager and hopeful faces staring back at her. Finally, she turned back to Temari.

"You didn't invite me to meet everyone here just to enjoy dinner, did you?" she asked.

Temari awkwardly chuckled as she fanned her face with her hand fan. "Guilty as charged!"

"W-What is it you all want from me?" she asked nervously. "I… I really don't understand whatever it is you're all trying to imply…"

It was Lady Kurenai that answered her. "Lady Hinata, just as my sister-in-law, new niece, and Lady Mei just stated, for years now, the female race has been all but overlooked," she began. "Women everywhere are expected to simply sit at home and be nothing more than souvenirs to their husbands. Being noble-born yourself as the heiress to your clan, surely you at some point will be expected to meet with a matchmaker and be betrothed to a boy who is either the heir to a prominent clan or is a powerful shinobi that has earned great honor for his family, correct?"

Hinata's face fell momentarily as she recalled her horrible matchmaking session with Lady Anko several months ago. "I already have, actually. It… It didn't exactly end well…" she said softly.

"No disrespect intended, but I am going to assume that your matchmaker labeled you as a loner at the end of your session?" Lady Tsunade asked gently. Hinata reluctantly nodded. "And because you failed in your session, you lost the honor you were supposed to bring for your clan, right?" Hinata nodded again, her pearlescent eyes downcast and sad. "Well, I speak for everyone here when I say that we all agree that losing honor for a reason like that is simply ridiculous!"

Hinata blinked at this exclamation, but what surprised her even more was the fact that the other royals were nodding at what Lady Tsunade said.

"We ladies in the Kage royalty have been fighting for the equality of women in Japan for some time now however we can," explained Sakura. "Mother and I do the best work we can as doctors, and are actually in the process of convincing my grandfather to pass a new law that states that anyone, regardless of gender or prestige, may elect to learn medical ninjutsu as it is a practical chakra use that doesn't necessarily have to be used for fighting. Lady Mei is saving the Land of Water from its all but preordained self-destruction due to its political turmoil. Aunt Kurenai is considering hosting a charity event for single mothers of children whose shinobi fathers died on the battlefield during this war so as to help them find actual jobs to support their families. And as for my fellow princesses Temari and Kurotsuchi… well, they've come up with possibly the best idea of all…"

Hinata was growing more confused by the minute. Everything that Princess Sakura had just told her about what the ladies in the Kage royalty were doing so as to help women earn their rights was wonderful, but she still didn't really understand what any of this had to do with her. She turned to look over at Kurotsuchi and Temari's matching smirks. "What idea did you both come up with, Princess Temari, Princess Kurotsuchi?"

Kurotsuchi grinned. "It's not so much that we thought it up as much as you _inspired_ the idea, Lady Hinata," she said.

"And it's really quite simple!" Temari chimed in. "We want to pass a law stating that women everywhere can choose to become ninjas just like any man!"

Silence.

For the longest time, Hinata did not speak. She simply stared at the princesses from the Land of Earth and the Land of Winds as she struggled to process what it was that she just heard.

"You… what?!" she said finally.

"You became a ninja simply to save your father's life because he had no eldest son to take his place in this war," Kurotsuchi explained. "I am sure that there were many similar situations to yours that occurred all over Japan when the draft notice was sent out. You were simply the only women who had the guts to take the place of someone you loved when you learned about the war. You've not only proven that women can do more than sit around and be decorative, but they can even earn honor for their families by becoming ninjas like their male relatives."

"We need to seize the opportunity that you have presented us with before too much time passes by, Lady Hinata," Temari continued. "You might not have meant to, but you lit the flame of a fire that we've all been struggling on our own to ignite. All of us here want to make sure that that fire doesn't die out before it's too late. We have to try and get this law passed as soon as possible."

"Imagine it, Lady Hinata," Lady Kurenai said. "A new world. A world where women can have just as many rights as men. A world where girls like my daughter here won't have to grow up thinking that it's perfectly fine to just live their lives in accordance to whatever their future husbands want them to do. A world where shinobi aren't the only fighters anymore, but that they're joined out on the battlefield with kunoichi! Female ninjas! It might just be a distant dream for the future right now, but we all believe that we can make it into a reality, starting by presenting Temari and Kurotsuchi's idea to the other Four Kage's."

"It… It definitely sounds like all of y-you want this, but… but what do you want from me?" Hinata questioned. "I… I have little to no experience with politics outside that of what I was taught to be a good leader for my clan one day."

"It's very simple, really," said Lady Tsunade, taking a small sip from her glass of wine. "We want your public backing behind this proposal."

Hinata's eyes became as wide as saucers. "You… You want m-my support?" she repeated, not quite believing her own ears.

"I know this is most likely a lot to take in, Lady Hinata," said Lady Mei. "But we know that despite your heroics against Orochimaru, taking this idea to the Imperial Council would be a waste of time and energy, so if we want to get this law approved, I would have to present it to the other Kage's. In order to bypass going to the Imperial Council to get a new law approved, three of the Kage's must approve of it. I'm fighting to get this law passed, so my support is a given, and we're quite certain that Hiruzen would approve of this idea, but we're not quite sure what Ay, Rasa, or Onoki will say."

Temari scoffed. "Oh please, Lady Mei. Don't be polite for the sake of those geezers! We all know _exactly_ what they will say! My father will be all, 'It was fine what Lady Hinata did, but she was still a foolish girl,'" she said in a rude impersonation of Rasa's voice.

Kurotsuchi nodded, and then did an impersonation of her grandfather Onoki's voice. "'Bah! Kurotsuchi, I'm sure you were inspired by Lady Hinata, but don't go getting wild ideas! Go and take a walk in the gardens or… or find something more productive to do!'"

Sakura grinned. "You both forget Lord Ay. 'Women as ninjas?! Complete nonsense! The Hyuuga girl was one thing, but the day women everywhere learn how to fight will be the day that Orochimaru comes back from the dead!'"

Lady Kurenai lightly laughed before turning her attention back to Hinata. "As you can see, Lady Hinata, on our own, we don't stand a chance at getting this law passed."

"But… what do you expect me to do? I doubt that the other K-Kage's would listen to me if I were to ask them about this anymore than they would listen to any of you."

"Oh, you misunderstand us, Lady Hinata," said Lady Tsunade. "We're not asking you to propose this idea yourself to other leaders. No, that would be undoubtedly rude of us."

"Like Lady Tsunade said, what we'd like from you is actually very simple," stated Temari, her mischievous smirk returning to her lips. "Before we go ahead and take this idea to my father and the other Kage's, we plan on holding a press conference about it on television, asking for support and backing from other prominent ninja clans that would be willing to support such an endeavor and allow their female members to learn to fight. When we do this, we want you to be one of those people who would be willing to support us."

"You want me to be a public activist for women's rights?" Hinata asked, surprised by their request.

"Who better than you, Lady Hinata?" said Sakura with a charming smile. "You showed the world that a girl can do anything! If we had your public support, we're certain more women willing to learn how to fight would start pleading for the law to be passed, and the other Kage's can't just ignore what the common population wants. They might be sticklers for tradition, but if the country wants to modernize by giving women equal rights, they'll have no choice but to abide by their wishes and allow us to get this law passed!"

"That's… very s-sneaky," the young heiress said slowly.

Lady Kurenai smiled at that. "Well, you know the old saying, don't you? The man might be the _head_ of the house, but the woman is the _neck,_ and she can turn the head any way she wants!"

Hinata was silent for a time again as she processed the royals' request. She knew firsthand how it felt to be considered second-rate by men simply because of her gender, and she was all for women getting the same respect as men. The problem was she wasn't sure if she was even allowed to support their idea. Not because she was a girl, but because of her position in her clan.

"I… I personally think your idea for women being allowed to become female ninjas, or as you say, k-kunoichi is wonderful… but can I have some time to get back to you on this?" Hinata politely requested. "I'll have to discuss this with my father and the elders in my clan. As… As the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, I can't just say yes or no to a m-matter like this on a whim. I'll have to f-find out what they think first."

"Of course, that's perfectly reasonable," said Lady Mei, sounding very understanding. "It's only natural you would feel the need to discuss the matter with your family first. You can send us a reply with your decision using a messenger hawk in your home village. We're perfectly fine with waiting. Just try to get back to us soon."

"Oh, speaking of the matter, when will you be going home, Lady Hinata?" inquired Sakura. "You seem very nice! I'd like to get to know you better!"

"Yes, you must stay for a few days, at the very least!" insisted Temari. "You might be a little shy, but unlike other noble-born girls, you actually have some spunk to you! Heaven only knows it would be nice to talk to a girl who understands the meaning of self respect!"

Hinata's cheeks flushed bright pink. She couldn't believe that two of the Kage princesses were actually inviting her to spend a few more days here in the Imperial Palace as their guest! Only a fool would not jump at the chance to stay in the palace, a place where most citizens in Japan would never even set foot in, but then again, Hinata was known to always do the unexpected.

"I am honored that you both t-think so highly of me, Princess Sakura, Princess Temari," she began. "But like I told Lady Mei and the other Four Kage's before… I think I've been away from home long enough. I really do m-miss my family."

Disappointed looks momentarily flitted across Sakura and Temari's faces, but they shoved their personal feelings away so as to smile understandingly at her.

"Yes, that does make sense," Sakura noted. "It's only natural you would be missing your family during your time at war. I know I'd be missing mine if I were gone for several months. Even my bratty little brother!"

"Sakura…" said Lady Tsunade warningly.

"Oh, Mother! We both know it's the truth! Konohamaru can be sweet and lovable at times, but most days he shows everyone his true colors! He's a little devil inside!"

Lady Tsunade rolled her eyes at her pink-haired daughter who was laughing at her own comment, but otherwise said nothing. Temari on the other hand turned back to Hinata.

"How soon do you think you will be leaving then, Lady Hinata?" she asked.

Hinata jumped a bit at the question, but forced herself to stay calm. "I… I haven't really thought about it too much yet, but I suppose s-sometime tomorrow would be good…"

"Tomorrow? Don't you think that's a little sudden?" asked Lady Kurenai, sounding genuinely surprised at her words.

"P-Perhaps, but I have a long journey from here to my home village. I'd like to be able to ride Rin for most of the way before the rainy season — oh, my goodness! Rin!" Hinata suddenly exclaimed, her eyes wide with sudden realization.

"Lady Hinata? What's wrong?" asked Kurotsuchi, confused by the abrupt change in demeanor from the shy young girl.

"M-My horse! I brought a horse into the city! I forgot all about him until now! I… I paid for him to spend only one n-night in the city stables when I first got here… I was asleep for two weeks! What if the owner sold him on me?! Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Oh—"

"Lady Hinata! Calm down!" Lady Mei said at once. "You have nothing to fear about that. Naruto informed me and the other Kage's that you arrived on a snow white horse. The five of us all personally oversaw that the stable master at the city boarding stalls had your horse transferred to the Imperial Palace stables the morning after your battle against Orochimaru. He's all right, I assure you. He's been tended to by our servants in the stables the entire time you were recovering."

Hinata's entire demeanor instantly relaxed. "Oh, thank you so much, Lady Mei! Rin means everything to me! I… I thought I was going to h-have to run to the city stables right this second to see if Rin was even still there! Thank you!"

"It was no trouble at all. Considering all that you've done for the five of us and this country, tending to your horse was the very least we could do for you in return."

"Still, thank you very much!"

"Anyway, as you were saying, Lady Hinata? You mentioned traveling home and leaving tomorrow?" Lady Tsunade gently pressed.

"Oh, y-yes… Well, I want to try and beat the rainy season by leaving sooner rather than later… So, why wait? I will of course miss m-my friends in the army and all of you seem very nice… but I believe it's time to go home. I promise to send you all a letter with my decision about supporting your endeavor for allowing kunoichi ninjas to join the army, though!"

"Very good!" said Temari, grinning happily at this reply. "Those elders in your clan had better say yes to you backing our new law, otherwise I might go down there and give them all a piece of my mind!"

Everyone at the table laughed as Lady Tsunade raised her half finished glass of wine.

"I propose a toast," she declared. "To a new world!"

"To a new world!" everyone echoed, raising their glasses as well.

The glasses gently clinked together, and then everyone sipped their drinks.

* * *

Dinner went by quickly for Hinata. Despite being the heiress to her clan, before tonight, she had never tasted such rich and delicious foods before. She feasted on nothing less than the finest quality of food there was as she chatted with the other women in the Kage royalty. She was generally a shy girl, but none of them ever showed the slightest inclination of being put off by her because of the small stutters in her voice that popped up every now and then. They all had a way of making her feel that she had no reason to be afraid to speak her mind, just like how her fellow male friends in the Allied Shinobi Forces did.

More than once over the course of dinner, Hinata had the thought that maybe things would be different for her back home from now on. In addition to her sweet little sister and her two wonderful cousins, perhaps she would be able to make new friends. Not only around the clan compound, but maybe out in her village, too. Life was better with friends, after all.

But even though she was enjoying herself, she was completely oblivious to the fact that on the other side of the ballroom, a certain blonde-haired boy with bright blue eyes and whisker-like scars on his cheeks was continuously turning in his chair as he ate his meal so as to stare at her.

Naruto was completely hooked by Hinata's appearance as she chatted and laughed happily with the other girls. Most of his fellow guy friends found the sight more than a little amusing as they ate their dinner, but the one person there that was really put off by his behavior was Konohamaru.

"Hey! Boss! Did you even hear what I just said?!" the little prince demanded.

Naruto jumped a little in his chair as he whirled back around. Upon seeing his younger friend glaring up at him with an annoyed expression on his face and his arms folded across his chest, the blonde awkwardly chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry, Konohamaru. Could you repeat that?"

"I said, 'You sure are distracted tonight! You've been staring at Mom, Aunt Kurenai, and Big Sis's table all night!'"

"Oh! Uh… Sorry about that!"

The little prince slumped back in his chair and huffed loudly. "Jeez… Why do you keep looking over there anyway?! If you're thinking about putting the moves on my sister, can't you at least wait until after dinner?!"

Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously upon hearing that comment, but almost everyone else at the table all but choked on their food when they saw the way Naruto's whole face burned red. Konohamaru might have been wrong about Naruto wanting to flirt with Sakura, but he was still half right. Everyone there had a pretty good idea who it was Naruto was so captivated by.

"Konohamaru, t-that's ridiculous! Sakura's like a sister to me, too! I've… I've never once thought of her in _that_ way!"

The twelve-year-old rolled his eyes at the blonde, but otherwise didn't comment any further. But the subject wasn't dropped. No, Kiba was too entertained by how easily it was to get his commanding officer to squirm when it came to Hinata to let this matter drop.

"I wouldn't worry too much about Naruto here when it comes to your sister, Little Prince," he said with a cheeky grin. "No, it's obvious he digs Miss Stutters over there, not Pinky."

Naruto turned, if possible, even redder at Kiba's words. "S-Shut up, Kiba!" he growled.

The others all grinned and laughed at their friend's obvious display of denial over his feelings. Naruto opened his mouth to start snapping at all of them to leave him alone, but that was when Gaara spoke up.

"Naruto, I will not pretend to make fun of you right now, but you should ignore the Inuzuka's teasing and pay attention. Something is currently happening over at Hinata's table that you might be interested in."

Naruto blinked, but nonetheless turned back around in his chair to see what it was that Gaara was talking about. His eyes nearly popped right out of his head when he saw who it was that Hinata was currently talking to.

"Holy shit!" he gasped.

Within seconds, the hyperactive blonde had all but leapt right out of his seat, and was bolting over toward the High Table while dodging his way around other partygoers at top speed.

As soon as he was completely out of earshot, Kankuro turned and scowled at his younger brother.

"Yo! What the hell, Gaara?! Why'd you have to warn him about what's going on over there so soon?! We could have made him squirm for at least a few more minutes!"

To the surprise of everyone at the table, Gaara's face broke out into a big teasing smirk.

"Because Kankuro, what is more amusing? Teasing our mutual friend with overused remarks about his undiscovered feelings for our female comrade, or to watch him sweat as he tries to figure out what _her_ motives are for speaking to Hinata in the first place?"

Everyone at the table, even the stoic Sasuke and Shino, had to blink twice when they heard Gaara say this. Who knew that the generally emotionless third-born child of the Kazekage actually had a mischievous side to him?

The men all shot one another quick looks of surprise before turning back over to where Hinata was currently sitting at the High Table and waited for the show to begin.

* * *

"Oh, Sakura! Tell Hinata about that time you followed Sasuke around all day when he and his father visited the palace back when we were kids!"

"Yes! Remember how angry he was when you nearly followed him into the bathroom because you weren't even paying attention to where it was he was leading you?!"

"Temari! Kurotsuchi! I was eleven-years-old! I had yet to learn how to use my feminine wiles to flirt with boys! I've learned how to be more subtle in how I flirt with him now!"

"Not that your feminine wiles have helped you at all with that human ice cube! He still glares at you every time the two of you have a conversation!"

"Oh, and I suppose you have better luck winning over that lazy cloud watcher, Temari? I'm positive he'd much rather spend an afternoon napping rather than flirting!"

"First of all, Kurotsuchi, don't lecture me on guys when you have yet to find a man of your own! Secondly, I may be, as Shikamaru puts it, 'a troublesome woman,' but I have my ways of making sure to keep that man from looking elsewhere for female company! After all, other than his mother, I'm pretty sure that I'm the only woman on earth who's willing to actually pound some responsibility into him with my fists so as to make him less lazy!"

Hinata brought her hand fan up close to her mouth to hide her small giggle. If this was what it was like to have normal female friends, Hinata was all for perhaps inviting Ino over to the Hyuuga clan compound one afternoon for tea. Sakura, Temari, and Kurotsuchi were all Kage princesses, but they were nonetheless easy for her to talk with as soon as they managed to see beyond the shy persona she always wore and ignored her small stutter. She really liked the three of them, and part of her wished that they were all normal girls that lived in her home village so that she could see them every day. Still, there was nothing stopping her from chatting with them now. Until she had to leave early tomorrow morning so as to get a head start on her trip back home, she was determined to get to know the three of them as well as she could. It was unlikely she would get an opportunity to journey back here to the Imperial City anytime in the near future, after all.

"I… I know that this w-was all told to me when my friends in the army still… still thought I was a boy, but I did hear some things that Shikamaru and Co-Captain Sasuke said about… about both of you, P-Princess Sakura, Princess Temari…" she said with a small smile.

The Land of Fire and the Land of Wind princesses heads immediately snapped in her direction.

"You heard something about Sasuke?! Really?! Tell me, please!"

"What did that Lazy Ass say about me? Did he finally admit to himself that he actually enjoys having a 'troublesome woman' in his life?"

Hinata had trouble keeping her giggling down to a minimum when she heard their words. She was technically breaking the 'guy code' by telling both of them what she had heard about what Sasuke and Shikamaru thought about them during the hike up to the front lines with the rest of her comrades, but seeing as she was actually girl and not a guy, she saw this as nothing more than 'girl talk.' Sharing secrets to her guy friends about what the princesses were saying seemed much more taboo to Hinata than sharing their secrets to Sakura, Temari, and Kurotsuchi.

"W-Well, for starters, Sasuke—"

"Good evening, Princesses, my Ladies."

Hinata, the Kage princesses, and Ladies Tsunade, Kurenai, and Mei, who had all been talking quietly amongst themselves since the princesses had been engaged in their private conversation with Hinata, all turned in their chairs. Standing behind them was a rather pretty young woman with long, beautiful red hair with a small barrette pinning her bangs out of her ocean blue eyes. She wore a lovely emerald green silk kimono with white sleeves, and had a tasteful amount of make-up applied to her face, which was currently broken out in a warm, friendly smile. She appeared to be an extremely wealthy noble-born woman judging by decadent jewelry adorning her body and the high quality of silk her kimono was made up of, but unlike other nobles who generally smiled half heartedly while out in public, this woman's smile seemed to be completely genuine. Everything about her seemed to radiate a sense of both friendliness and kindness.

Hinata blinked twice when she saw the unknown woman. She was quite certain that she had never met this woman before now, but for some strange reason, she had the feeling that she had at least seen her somewhere in the past. But where had she seen her? That was a puzzling question, and although the answer was for sure on the tip of her tongue, the shy young heiress couldn't seem to figure it out.

Although Hinata had difficulty figuring out who the stranger was, the rest of the women at the table had no such problems. All of them appeared to be acquainted with the redhead, and smiled politely to the high born lady as they nodded in greeting.

"Lady Kushina! This is a nice surprise!" Lady Tsunade exclaimed. "How are you this evening?"

Kushina… Something about this name tickled at the back of Hinata's mind, but she couldn't force herself to think too hard on where she had heard it before. She was too preoccupied by how the redhead was smiling sweetly in reply to Lady Tsunade's words.

"I am very well, thank you, Lady Tsunade. And how are all of you this evening?"

"We are doing just fine as well," said Lady Mei. "Are you enjoying the party so far?"

"Oh, yes! Everything's wonderful, Lady Regent! It's just a shame that I had to come alone. I so badly miss my husband. He would always sweep me off my feet during the dances…"

"I know exactly how you feel, Lady Kushina," said Lady Kurenai, her own smile faltering slightly. "I miss Asuma so much right now. The dancing was always my favorite part of these parties, too. He never even got to meet little Mirai here. She looks exactly like him, don't you agree?"

"You're absolutely right, Lady Kurenai! She's Lord Asuma's spitting image! I have a feeling she's going to be just like him when she gets older!"

Lady Kurenai lightly laughed and cradled her small daughter close to her chest as Sakura, Temari, and Kurotsuchi focused their attention on the newcomer.

"If you don't mind my saying so, Lady Kushina, you look splendid this evening!" commented Kurotsuchi, appraising the green and white kimono with obvious delight. "Your kimono is so beautiful! May I ask who the designer is?"

"Oh, it's nothing special, Princess Kurotsuchi. It's just a kimono made by a fellow member of my clan who works as a designer. She was kind enough to make this for me tonight. It's nowhere near as beautiful as yours and your fellow princesses' kimonos are."

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Temari. "That kimono is nothing short of a masterpiece! Tell your designer that if she's ever interested in designing a kimono fit for royalty, to come to the palace at any time! The gods and spirits know that I'm in need of a new kimono for formal tea ceremonies thanks to a certain shinobi that I will not name and my two idiot brothers!"

"Is that right, Princess Temari? Well, I'll be sure to pass along the message. I'm sure my designer will be overjoyed by this news."

"Well, thank you very much!"

"How can we help you this evening, Lady Kushina?" Sakura asked with a bright smile. "Would you care to join us all here at the High Table? You're more than welcome to sit down!"

"Thank you, Princess Sakura, I do believe I will!"

Lady Kushina selected an empty chair right beside Hinata, and planted herself down on the cushioned seat. As soon as she had made herself comfortable, she turned and smiled to Hinata.

"I take it you must be Lady Hinata, the world's first female ninja?" she asked kindly.

Hinata's cheeks heated up slightly with embarrassment, but she still nodded.

"Yes, m-madam, I'm Lady Hinata," she all but whispered.

Lady Kushina's smile only grew. "I thought you might be her. My son has told me so much about you. I was hoping I would get the opportunity to meet you tonight."

"Your son?" Hinata repeated, blinking a bit in confusion.

"Yes, he is in the army, too. He talks about you all the time, always praising you and was so worried after you got hurt. Call me nosy, but after hearing him say all this, I just knew I had to see just what made him so excited whenever he talked about you. Oh, and since I have a moment of your time right now, Lady Hinata, I'd like to say that I think what you did on that rooftop was very brave. You are truly a remarkable young woman."

The older Kage royals at the table all smirked and shared knowing looks, and the Kage princesses all brought their pretty paper fans close to their mouths and tried to quiet their giggles. Hinata really didn't know what to make of their strange behavior. It seemed as though they were all privy to information that she did not have. Just what was going on?

"That's… That's very kind of you to say, Lady Kushina, so… so please f-forgive me for saying so but... but I'm afraid I don't quite know who you are…"

There was a pause as the redheaded woman blinked twice at Hinata's words in surprise, but then she lightly laughed, which only succeeded in confusing Hinata further.

"Oh, that boy! I can't believe he never even mentioned me once at that war camp! Princess Sakura! You're good friends with my son, aren't you? Remind me to give him a piece of my mind later on to teach him not to be embarrassed by me!"

Sakura laughed so hard, she had great difficulty trying to keep up her prim and proper appearance behind her hand fan. "Of course, Lady Kushina! It's the least that idiot deserves for seemingly forgetting about all of us while he was away at war!"

"Glad to see you agree!"

Sakura chuckled darkly as Kushina turned her attention back to the still thoroughly baffled Hinata.

"I suppose this must all be very confusing for you, am I right?" she asked.

Hinata slowly nodded, her puzzled expression never once leaving her face.

"Well then, why don't you try to guess who I am, Lady Hinata?"

All the ladies at the table turned toward Hinata with hopeful expressions on their faces, wanting to see if the shy girl could figure out who Lady Kushina was.

For a little while, Hinata was utterly silent as she wracked her brains, trying to figure out who it was Lady Kushina could be. She was now one hundred percent positive that the two of them had never officially met before tonight, but still… she knew her name from somewhere, and she was positive that she had at least seen her somewhere before. The question was where had she seen her? She had never once gone to the Imperial City before the war, so it was impossible to have met her at another party or even to have had a chance encounter with her before. She had never even spoken to a member of a prominent clan that was stationed here in the Imperial City before tonight. Well, not unless she counted that moment two weeks ago when —

Realization suddenly dawned on the indigo-haired girl, and a small involuntary gasp escaped her.

The Kage royals all shared knowing looks with each other as Lady Kushina's smile became even bigger and brighter with anticipation.

"Oh! So you figured it out?" she asked eagerly.

"Of course I did! I can't believe I forgot! You're the young woman who was on the balcony and tried to save me!" Hinata exclaimed.

Lady Kushina blinked at hearing her reply, and then abruptly burst out laughing, as did the rest of the royals.

Hinata was quite sure that she ought to feel offended at this point, but she was still way too confused to even consider whether or not they thought she was either an idiot or just plain naïve.

"L-Lady Kushina? Did... Did I say something wrong?" she timidly asked.

"Oh, no! No, no, no! Not at all!" said the red haired woman, actually brushing away a tear from her eye with her index finger as she spoke. "No, I apologize for laughing, Lady Hinata. It's just that I wasn't expecting _that_ answer, that's all."

"Oh. Then I guess I was wrong about that being you that tried to help me on that balcony?"

"No, that _was_ me that tried to help you, but like I said, I was simply surprised by your response. And as long as we're on the subject, I would like to apologize to you for not being able to save you that night. Goodness me, you almost fell to your death, and all because I failed to take hold of your hand!"

Hinata immediately shook her head. "Oh, no, Lady Kushina! It wasn't your fault! I… I'm g-grateful that you tried to help me. You might not have been able to keep me from falling, but that's all right. W-What matters is that you tried to help at all, so thank you."

Lady Kushina looked relieved to hear these words. "That's very kind of you to say, Lady Hinata. I was worried for a moment you might either scorn me for not being able to help you, or simply find me too weird to accept my apology."

"I would never d-do such a horrible thing, Lady Kushina! That's… That's just too terrible!"

"Is that right?" Lady Kushina asked, her expression changing ever so slightly into that of an appraising, calculating look. "You don't believe that people should be treated differently simply because they are unlike everyone else?"

Hinata was puzzled for a moment by the strange question, but she nonetheless shook her head. "It… It would be wrong of m-me to think that way, considering that I grew up always considered an oddity in my clan… I don't think that it's r-right to look down on people simply because they're different…"

"So you believe that people should be true to themselves, is that right?"

Hinata nodded. "It may be hard sometimes to find the courage to express y-yourself, but I realized over the course of the war that… pretending to be someone that I'm not meant that I was not only living a lie, b-but that I could never hope to be accepted for who I am by the people I care about if I wasn't honest with them or myself. I came to learn that although my f-fellow ninjas were shocked to discover that I was a girl and not a guy… they realized that I was still the same person deep down, and we're all still friends. So yes, I think people should be true to themselves. It's the only w-way they will ever be happy…"

Lady Kushina was silent for a few seconds as she studied Hinata, her calculating expression never once leaving her face. The rest of the royals were holding up their hand fans to hide their smiles and choked back laughs. Hinata wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she had a sinking feeling that there would be serious repercussions if Lady Kushina didn't like her.

Just who was Lady Kushina's son?

Why was she so adamant on asking her these questions?

Did she only come over here to the High Table so as to meet her?

Before Hinata could dwell too much on these puzzling questions, a bright smile suddenly appeared on Lady Kushina's face, and the sight of it actually made Hinata relax.

"Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with you," she said cheerfully. "No one will ever truly know happiness if they aren't honest with themselves. I must say, Lady Hinata, my son only told me about how kind and brave you are. He never said anything at all about just how smart you are, too!"

Hinata's face grew red hot in embarrassment as the others sitting at the table all chimed in words of agreement to what Lady Kushina had said. For some reason, Hinata got the impression that she had just passed some sort of important test. What on earth was happening?

"Um… Lady Kushina? I—"

"Hey! What's going on here?!"

Hinata jumped and turned around in her chair, as did the other ladies. Naruto was literally scrambling his way past other partygoers and palace servants to reach their place at the High Table. Hinata took note that he had a frantic look on his face, but to her surprise, he was not looking at her or any of the other royals. His eyes were focused solely on Lady Kushina.

"N-Naruto? What's wrong—?"

"What… What the hell is going on here?!" Naruto gasped, ignoring Hinata's words and the smug looking Kage royals completely as he moved to stand right in front of Lady Kushina's chair, his panicked expression still plastered on his face. "Why are you talking to Hinata?!"

Hinata felt no shame whatsoever in admitting to herself that she was completely lost by this point. Naruto knew Lady Kushina? Why was he so frantic about the fact that the nice young woman had been talking to her? Was she someone bad? In Hinata's opinion, the redheaded woman seemed very nice.

The confused heiress slowly opened her mouth to ask what the problem was, but before she could say anything, a mischievous smirk suddenly spread across Kushina's lips, and then, quite abruptly, she reached up and gave Naruto a good bop on the head.

Hinata gaped at the sight as Naruto yelped at the sharp pain.

"Ow! What was that for?!" he demanded.

" _That—"_ said Lady Kushina, her smirk still gracing her lips "—was for taking so long to come and spare five minutes out of your time to come and talk to me since this party first started, and _this—"_ she added, bopping him on the head a second time, and earning a second groan from the blonde "—was for never so much as mentioning me to your lovely friend here over the course of the entire war! Shame on you!"

Everyone else except Hinata immediately laughed in amusement, but Hinata just continued to stare at the exchange happening in front of her with wide eyes. She wanted to know just what was going on, and could no longer stay silent.

"Naruto, what is going on? W-Why are you hitting him, Lady Kushina? Is everything all right?" she hesitantly asked.

Naruto jumped a bit at her words, but as he stumbled over his thoughts to still try and make sense as to why exactly Lady Kushina had come over here to talk to Hinata in the first place, Lady Kushina suddenly shot him a scary grin.

"Well, Naruto? Aren't you formally going to introduce me?" she asked oh-so-pleasantly it was actually frightening.

Naruto hastily nodded, not wanting to be hit over the head again. With a thick, nervous gulp, he turned toward Hinata and then gestured to Lady Kushina.

"Um, Hinata? I'd… Well… This is my mom, Kushina Namikaze," he stated nervously.

Hinata's eyes all but popped right out of her head. Gods and spirits, she had been speaking to Lady Kushina all this time without even knowing that she was Naruto's mother! Heaven help her, she had all but told the woman that her son had never once mentioned her before without realizing that Naruto was her son, and she had unintentionally lied to her! Naruto _had_ in fact mentioned her name to her once, that night that the two of them talked together after her humiliating bath back at the training camp. She had simply been too stupid to remember it.

The poor girl all but leapt right out of her chair so as to start bowing as quickly as she could. "Oh, my goodness! Lady Kushina! I… I am _so_ s-sorry if I offended you in any way! Naruto _did_ actually tell me your name once! I… I just f-forgot! I am so sorry! I am so sorry! I am so—"

Her frantic apology was abruptly cut off when Lady Kushina lightly laughed.

"It is quite all right, Lady Hinata. I am partly to blame. I took advantage of the fact that you weren't aware of who I am, after all. I just wanted to see what you would say."

"Mom! I don't know what the hell kind of games you're playing with Hinata, but whatever you were doing, that was plain mean!" Naruto exclaimed, his face fixed in a small scowl. "Just what were you hoping to achieve by putting her through that?!"

Lady Kushina only smirked at her son. "I needed to see what type of a person she was. No need to fret, Naruto! I strongly approve of her!"

The royals all sitting around the table were now holding their hand fans permanently up toward their mouths to suppress their amusement.

Hinata was flushing bright red even though she still wasn't entirely sure what Lady Kushina was talking about.

Naruto's frenzied expression disappeared as a look of puzzlement took its place.

"Huh? Approve of her? What are you talking about, Mom?"

But Kushina didn't grant Naruto a direct answer to his question. Instead, she glanced over at the orchestra playing in the corner, who were just finishing up the song they had been playing all this time and were in the process of starting a new one, this one having a much slower melody.

"Well, what do you know?" Lady Kushina smiled, still glancing in the direction of the orchestra. "A new song just started! Lady Hinata, have you danced at all yet this evening?"

Hinata was slightly taken aback by this sudden question, but she forced herself to shake her head. "N-No, not yet…" she stuttered.

"Oh! What a shame! Every young girl should be given the opportunity to dance with someone at least once while at a party being hosted at the Imperial Palace! You not dancing? That simply won't do! Naruto!" she said abruptly, making the blonde jump in place as his mother focused her attention back on him. "Why don't you go and escort Lady Hinata out onto the dance floor?"

Every coherent thought that Hinata had been thinking up to this point flew right out of her head when she heard these words, and her entire face flared a bright, vivid shade of scarlet. Naruto gaped at his mother for several seconds, but then nonsensical words started spewing from his mouth as he tried to make sense of what she had just said.

"Wha… huh?! Me?! Her?! I… We… Dance?!"

"Of course. I did raise you to be a gentleman, did I not? Well, a gentleman would never let such a beautiful young girl sit on the sidelines when she should be fully enjoying the party. You have no objections with dancing with Lady Hinata, do you?"

"Uh… well… no, but—"

"Splendid! And how about you, Lady Hinata? Do you object to dancing with my son?"

"I… I… I…"

"Good! No objections from either party! Go on, Naruto—" the cheerful redhead went on, actually going so far as to seize hold of one of Naruto's hands and drag him a few inches closer to Hinata "—ask Lady Hinata to dance!"

There was a momentary pause as Naruto and Hinata simply stared in bewilderment at Lady Kushina for what she had decided on a whim to have them both do, but then they both looked at each other, and they turned even brighter shades of red in complete embarrassment. It didn't matter to either of them that Lady Kushina still had a cheerful, sneaky smile on her face or that the Kage royal ladies were still laughing lightly behind their hand fans. The fact that neither the Namikaze heir or the Hyuuga heiress could find the courage to speak so much as one word to one another now was the dominant problem for them.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of tongue-tied silence between the blonde boy and the indigo-haired girl, Naruto awkwardly cleared his throat and tentatively offered Hinata his hand.

"Hinata… would you… care to dance?" he mumbled, his words barely audible.

Hinata felt somewhat lightheaded from the seemingly simple request, but for her, such a shy girl, it was too much. So many bad scenarios were running through her mind.

What if she messed up the footwork and stepped on his feet after every other step?

What if she accidentally took the 'leading' position in two partner dancing and threw him off?

What if she got too embarrassed by their close proximity and she ended up fainting on him?

This was far too risky for her to agree to! No, the smart thing to do was to simply refuse this idea and instead try to enjoy a quiet evening with him sitting off on the sidelines.

The shy Hyuuga princess opened her mouth to politely turn him down, but a different set of words escaped her lips before she could stop herself or process what it was she was saying, and she reached forward to slowly place her small hand in his slightly larger one.

"I would love to, Naruto…"

As soon as Hinata realized what it was she had said and panicked slightly for screwing up her polite refusal, Lady Kushina smiled and clapped her hands happily.

"Wonderful! Then it's all settled! Well, don't let any of us keep you any longer! Go on, both of you! Enjoy the party!"

And with that, the widow of the previous head of the Namikaze clan turned away from her son and the Heroine of Japan and focused her attention back on the rest of the ladies in the Kage royalty, seemingly dismissing them without another word.

For another moment or two, both Naruto and Hinata stood there glancing nervously at one another out of the corner of their eyes with bright red cheeks. But then, Naruto awkwardly nodded his head in the direction of the large dance floor in the center of the room, where there were already a number of other people dancing to the new song.

"I, uh… I guess we should get out there, right?" he said, sounding rather uneasy due to how embarrassed he was.

"Y-Yes!" Hinata squeaked, unable to stop herself from stuttering this time. "Y-Yes, I… I would like that…"

"Great! So, um… yeah! Okay then!"

As they were about to start walking together to the dance floor, Lady Kushina suddenly spun around in her chair.

"Oh, before you go, Lady Hinata, there was one more thing that I wanted to say," she stated. "As I understand it, it appears that I owe you twice over for saving my son's life on two separate occasions during this war. You have my utmost gratitude for that. I may have lost my husband during these past few months, and I am still heartbroken that he's gone, but had I learned that my son was gone as well, I would have been lost in my grief. If there's ever anything I can ever do for you, do not hesitate to ask. I will do anything I can to help you in return for what you have done for me."

Both Hinata and Naruto were stunned by this sudden proclamation Lady Kushina had just made, but before either of them could say anything in reply, the red-haired woman had already spun back around in her chair to face the royals again. Naruto and Hinata glanced curiously at one another for a moment, but then made their way over to where the other couples were dancing.

The two almost seemed like the perfect couple as they slowly made their way to the dance floor, what with their matching set of red cheeks. In the background, Naruto and Hinata could vaguely hear their friends at their table in the back cheering them on when they saw the two of them going out onto the floor together, but the couple only gave them barely noticeable nods, as they were both too preoccupied by their current predicament to pay too much attention to the boys. They could all wait a while. Right now, all that mattered to the two of them was getting through this one song.

Hinata was surprised that she hadn't gone into cardiac arrest already when Naruto took hold of her right hand into his left before putting his right hand in place on her waist, and Hinata shyly put her free hand on his shoulder. Both of them gazed shyly at one another for a moment before starting to dance with the other couples out on the floor. Their steps were small and they barely traveled around, but that was sufficient for the two of them. They were mainly just trying to focus on each other and not mistiming their steps.

"I really am sorry if you didn't want to do this, Hinata," said Naruto after they both managed to fall into a steady rhythm.

"Hmm?" Hinata said, not understanding what he was saying.

"This, right now. Dancing," he clarified. "I don't know what my mom was thinking when she suggested this. I was never good at learning stuff like this when I was growing up. Just a heads up, I'll probably step on your toes at some point, so, sorry in advance."

"It's… It's all right, Naruto," said Hinata, her cheeks still dusted with a light shade of pink as she spoke. "I haven't d-danced like this in… in years actually. I'm probably the one who will be stepping on your toes at one point or another…"

The blonde let out a half hearted chuckle at that. "Oh? Really? I'll be careful then…"

"Y-Yes, me too…"

An uneasy, tense silence fell in between them for a short time as they both tried their hardest to minimize any errors in their footwork. It was so strained, it could actually be considered painful in its own way. The two of them had found it so easy to talk one on one before when Hinata was 'Hiro' or when Hinata was simply fighting as herself to save the Kage's, the Honorable Families, and all of Japan, but now that she was being somewhat forced back into her normal, womanly role in society for this party, the tension between them was completely unbearable.

"Your… Your mother s-seems nice," Hinata said after awhile, unable to let the strained silence linger on between them any longer.

"Huh? Oh, uh… thanks! I'm sorry if she said anything weird to you. I don't know what she was thinking going up to you and not even telling you who she was…"

"I don't really know what t-that was about either. I got the impression that she was testing me."

"Testing you? What for?"

"I'm not quite sure…"

"Well whatever that was about, don't worry about it. I can guarantee she likes you, or else she wouldn't have suggested this whole dance-thing in the first place."

Hinata grew somewhat saddened when she heard that last bit. "I'm sorry, do y-you not like dancing with me, Naruto?"

"What?! No, no of course not! I like dancing with you, Hinata!"

The blue-haired girl's heart skipped a beat when she heard those words. "You… You do?" she whispered.

Naruto's face turned red once again as he distinctly coughed in embarrassment. "Yeah. This… This is nice," he said.

Hinata all but glowed with happiness upon hearing those words. She was so happy to have heard him say that he liked dancing with her, she mistimed her next dance step, and ended up stepping down right on Naruto's toes.

"Oof!" said the blonde, wincing a bit from the pain in his foot.

"Oh! I-I-I didn't mean to do that! I'm so sorry!" Hinata said in frenetic rush.

Naruto laughed. "It's fine, Hinata, really! Like I said before, I'll probably end up accidentally stepping on your feet at some point. We'll call it even when that happens!"

Hinata smiled shyly up at him as more partygoers coupled up and started making their way toward the dance floor. Although everyone there was quite content dancing with their partners to the soft melody, both Naruto and Hinata were keenly aware of the fact that a number of people were watching the two of them as they danced with curious expressions.

Hinata was too timid to do anything other than nod shyly at their onlookers every so often before trying to focus her attention back on Naruto again, but Naruto did his best to just ignore them. He wasn't going to let their curiosity ruin his time with Hinata, no matter what they did.

"They're all… They're all staring at us…" Hinata whispered, her cheeks aglow from all the attention.

"Yeah I know, but it's not me they're staring at," Naruto pointed out. "It's you."

A small 'eep!' escaped Hinata's lips at hearing that, and she quickly met his gaze. "M-Me…?"

Naruto smiled brightly in return. "Of course. You are the Heroine of Japan, after all. The first female ninja in history. They want to know more about you."

Hinata's smile diminished slightly when she heard these words. Everyone seemed to have such big expectations for her now after learning about all her deeds in the war. It wasn't that she was ungrateful for all the praise everyone was granting her with, but she knew deep down that it was only a matter of time before everyone in all of Japan realized that she was nothing more than the worthless girl she already knew herself to be and would deem everything that she had done on the rooftop during her battle against Orochimaru as a mere fluke. It would happen eventually, she knew, so she was trying to prevent herself from soaking in too much praise and allowing herself to feel pride for her actions. Letting herself feel too happy and overjoyed would only make the inevitable wakeup call to reality all the more painful in the end.

She tried to hide her sad thoughts from her face so as to not ruin the mood, but Naruto seemed to sense the dark ideas running through her head, and gently squeezed her hand to get her to focus in back on him.

"Hey! What's wrong, Hinata? Why do you suddenly look so upset?"

Hinata blinked upon realizing that he could see right through the mask of deception she was trying to wear at this moment, and then sighed sadly. "It's just… It's hard for me to p-pretend that I don't feel happy and proud of myself for all my deeds in the war."

"Huh? What do you mean, you have to pretend? You have more than earned the right to let yourself be selfish for one night."

"B-Because… Because I know that sooner or later, everyone's going to wake up and see me for who I truly am, and that I don't actually deserve any of this praise. They'll stop thinking of me as 'Hinata, the Heroine of Japan.' They'll open their eyes and s-start calling me 'Hinata, the Disgraceful Heiress' once again. Don't get me wrong, I won't be mad at them when that happens. I'm used to it b-by now. At some point I'm going to have to wake up from this dream and… and everyone will open their eyes and realize that I'm just a worthless failure as the heiress to my clan…"

Naruto stared at her incredulously for a few seconds after hearing this as they kept dancing, appearing to be at a total loss for words. Hinata had absolutely no clue what could be going on in his head at this moment after having revealed her opinion of herself to him, but she hoped he would at least understand what she was saying. She was quite right, of course. She knew she was right. She was such a pathetic excuse for a clan heiress. It wasn't that she was unappreciative of all this honor and praise being bestowed upon her by the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent, it was just that she knew that she wasn't worthy enough to receive it. There was no point in getting overexcited for being given this glory when it would be gone in the blink of an eye as soon as just one person saw what she saw when she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"What the hell do those elders in your clan tell you on a daily basis for you to have this much of a low opinion of yourself?!"

Hinata blinked at the abrupt question and looked up. Naruto still looked to be completely bewildered by what she had told him, but his eyes were filled with such warmth and kindness in them that she immediately gave him her full and undivided attention.

"P-Pardon?" she asked.

"I remember what you told me that night at the training camp when I thought you were still 'Hiro,'" he explained. "I remember how you told me that the elders in your clan want to replace you with your sister for your birthright of being the next head of the Hyuuga clan. How much do they hate you if you honestly believe what they say and think this way about yourself?"

Hinata frowned, and tried her absolute hardest not to lose her focus on her dance steps and step on his toes again. "It's… It's not like they're wrong in their opinion of me…" she murmured. "After everything that's h-happened, no one in the Imperial City can deny that I'm different from other girls my age. I'm not ashamed to admit that although I did what I had to, to protect my father from this war, and I did it out of love… it was still stupid and reckless. No normal girl w-would ever so much as dream up such an idea, much less act on it! Even… Even _you_ were appalled when my true identity was discovered!"

Her last few words definitely made Naruto pause, as she was correct in this instance. He had really been an ass to her when he found out she was actually a girl and not a guy.

"I never did apologize to you for that, did I?" he mused.

"Apologize?" Hinata repeated, not quite sure what he was referring to.

"For treating you the way I did back in the mountains after everyone found out who you really were. I… I'm really sorry for how reacted."

"N-Naruto, there's… there's no reason for you to apologize. I—"

"No, I _owe_ you an apology for what I did, Hinata," he insisted. "Being angry at you for lying to everyone about your true gender? That was one thing, but I _left_ you alone in the mountains to die. That… That was wrong of me. I doubt that there's anything I can ever say or do that can make that right, but I want you to know, I really am sorry for doing that to you."

"Naruto, I… I forgave you the moment you and the rest of the troops started marching away. You had every r-right to be mad, and you had already given me more mercy than you should have by sparing me from the death penalty. I don't hate you at all for that!"

"And that alone is one of the many reasons why you _do_ matter."

Hinata blinked, but before she could ask Naruto what he was talking about, he continued.

"Hinata, you just forgave me for treating you as though you were worth less than dirt in the mountains when any other normal person would hold at least a shred of resentment toward anyone who ever did that to them."

"But I _am_ worth less than—"

"You forgave that stupid Closet Pervert for trying to undermine you in front of the Kage's and the rest of the city a few hours ago, even when he's been a jerk to you since the day you first arrived at the training camp."

"He was just doing his job, so—"

"You forgave your friends back over at the table for initially making it their mission to humiliate you in training so you'd get in trouble with me, Sasuke, and Gaara."

"But they were angry at me because—"

"Hinata, the point is you have such a big heart that's willing to forgive anyone who wrongs you regardless of the circumstance, with the obvious exception of that snake bastard Orochimaru," he explained. "You don't care what the reason is for why people treat you the way they do. You're still willing to forgive them and show them kindness in return. You might be used to telling yourself that you're worthless, but I don't think you actually believe it. At least not anymore…"

"W-What are you talking about? I wouldn't have brought this up at all if—"

"I think you may have actually believed what those bastards in your clan told you in the past before you ran off and joined the army, but after everything that's happened, you're scared to admit to yourself now that their opinion of you was wrong."

For a long time, Hinata was silent as she considered his words, only letting him continue to lead her through their dance. Could Naruto possibly be right about this? The possibility that she might be afraid of considering herself as anything other than a destined failure was something that had never once occurred to the Hyuuga princess. It was definitely a matter she would have to think over in greater detail at a later time.

Naruto took her silence the wrong way, and immediately grew nervous. "Oh, crap! I… I didn't just offend you, did I?" he asked worriedly.

"Oh, no! No, not at all!" Hinata replied at once. "No, you just… you just gave me s-something I had never thought about before. I'm not quite sure what to think now, that's all…"

"Well if you ask me, you should stop thinking so lowly of yourself and when you get home, you go and give those bastards on the Hyuuga council a piece of your mind! It's what they deserve and more for putting that idea in your head in the first place!"

Hinata couldn't help but laugh at his words as the song came to an end. It didn't matter what the circumstance was, Naruto could always manage to bring a smile to her face. He might consider her the amazing one between them, but he was the one who was truly amazing. There was no doubt in the Hyuuga princess's mind that she would never be able to love another man the same way that she loved him. Her love for Naruto was something that would never fade away no matter how much time passed by. It was true love after all, and true love never dies.

"W-Well, I don't know about that, but I promise I will try not to think so lowly of myself anymore," she told him as the two made their way off the dance floor so other partygoers could take their place and instead moved to stand off to the side by a wall so as to continue their conversation.

Naruto all but beamed brightly at her words. "That's great! I hate thinking that you basically hate yourself just because you're not like other girls! The fact that you're different is what makes you, _you_ after all!"

Hinata giggled a bit as a cheerful smile spread across her face. "I'll… I'll try to remember that when I get home. You don't know how easy it is for m-me to be afraid of the elders in my clan. They _really_ don't like me…"

"When are you going home, by the way?" Naruto asked curiously. "You never told any of us back at the table before Temari whisked you away."

Hinata blushed as she recalled how the tomboyish princess all but kidnapped her from her ninja friends. "Sometime tomorrow," she told him.

"Tomorrow?!" he gasped, sounding shocked by her answer. For some reason, the idea that Hinata was leaving so soon sent a jolt of panic through him. He didn't quite understand what he was feeling, but he did know that he wanted her to stay here in the palace for a little while longer. "Can't you stay for a few more days? You just woke up from a coma! You should rest for awhile before traveling!"

"I… I'm flattered that you're worried about me, Naruto, but my mind is made up," she said firmly. "I feel more than well enough to travel, so you don't have to worry about that. And besides… I've b-been away from home long enough. The last time I spoke to my family was when I had a fight with my father over his decision to be the Hyuuga… the Hyuuga representative in the war. Right after that, I decided on a whim t-to do… well, all of this! I stole away in the middle of the night whispering my goodbyes to them while they slept! I… I need to go back home now. I don't know what exactly will be w-waiting for me when I get there, whether or not I'll be welcomed back with open arms or be stripped of my title of clan heiress before being thrown out of the clan compound… but I need to see my family again. I miss them. My mother, my f-father, my little sister, and my cousins…? If I'm going to be kicked out of the clan forever, I need to say a proper goodbye to them. It's… It's something I need to do."

Naruto nodded when he heard her explanation. He would lying if he said that he wasn't disappointed that she would be leaving the Imperial Palace so soon, but he couldn't deny that her reasons were justified for her rush to go home. If he were in her position, he was sure he'd feel the exact same way.

"Yeah, that does make sense," he agreed.

"What about y-you?" she asked. "What will you do now that… that the war is over?"

Naruto blinked. "Me?" he asked. Hinata nodded. "Well… With my dad gone, his responsibilities now fall to me. Did I tell you yet that I've been made the new General of the Allied Shinobi Forces?"

"No, you didn't! Congratulations!"

"Thanks," he said with a chuckle. "It's a step in the right direction for following my dream of being Hokage myself one day. I've gotta learn the ropes from Kakashi-sensei on how to lead all the platoons in the army. It's gonna be tough, but that's only half of my responsibilities now. In addition to taking over my dad's old job of General, with him dead and me as his only heir, the elders in my clan had to disregard the fact that my mom and I are related to the Uzumaki clan in order to follow tradition. I'm now the youngest member in the history of the Namikaze clan to become the clan head."

Hinata was stunned by this news. "You're the head of your clan now?" she gasped.

"Yeah. In all honesty, being the new head of the clan intimidates me more than being the new General for the army. My dad taught me the basics in running the clan, but… but he made it all look so easy! I knew I'd be the next leader one day, but I'd always hoped he'd be by my side when I finally took over to tell me if I was doing something wrong, and would help me as I first started off. I'm not gonna lie. It's definitely going to be tough…"

"Don't be afraid, you c-can do it!" Hinata exclaimed. "You're… You're one of the strongest people I know, Naruto. If anyone can be the head of a c-clan and the General of the army at the same time, it's… it's you. I'm sure it will be hard at first, but I know you can do it! I… I know you can!"

Naruto still looked a tad bit nervous at what the future now held for him, but hearing Hinata's words definitely made him smile once again.

"Thanks, Hinata. I'm glad you believe in me."

"Of course I believe in you! I always have!"

The words slipped out of her mouth before Hinata could stop herself from saying them. Her whole face burned red as Naruto's expression turned to that of puzzlement.

"You've… always believed in me?" he repeated.

Hinata never knew she could blush so hard. She squeaked lightly as she averted her eyes from his face. This was so embarrassing!

"You… You were a good trainer back at the training camp, and you were always so k-kind and patient with teaching me… even though I initially learned everything at a slower pace than everyone else…" she murmured. "Even while w-we were fighting on the front lines, you were a good… a good leader and a strong shinobi, and you were n-nice to me when everyone thought my preferences in… well… _girls_ was strange…"

Both Naruto and Hinata lightly laughed as they recalled the talks from the rest of their friends about finding girls during their long march to the Land of Iron.

"S-So… So I think those traits are very admirable, and… and when you told me you recognized my red scarf and I r-realized you were the boy who I met when I was a child… Well… I had all the more reason to believe in you!"

Hinata might be a brave girl when it came to being a ninja and protecting others from harm, but when it came to normal everyday conversations and simply talking to the blonde-haired boy with whisker-like scars on his cheeks that she was in love with, she lacked any sort of willpower to fully explain how it was she felt. She was far too much of a shy person to be undoubtedly direct. What she had just explained to Naruto right now about always believing in him and admiring him ever since she met him when she was a child, which had not wavered in the slightest as she grew to know him now as an adult, was the closest thing to a confession about her true feelings toward him that she could bring herself to muster at this time. She couldn't just go home without giving him at least a small hint as to how she felt about him! Please let him understand what she was saying and not reject her!

But Naruto was a dense person. A strong ninja warrior, yes, and an even better person to have as a friend, but he was still an idiot when it came to understanding things that were both said and not said to him in conversation. The true purpose of Hinata's words was lost on the Namikaze heir. He was confused as to what brought them on in the first place, and he only smiled awkwardly in reply.

"Uh… thanks, I guess," he said, chuckling a bit as he scratched the back of his head. "I'll do my best from now on, so you do your best too, okay? Don't let those jerks on your clan council get you down."

It took everything Hinata had to not frown at his words. He wasn't understanding what she was saying. That made her truly upset. Still, she had to try at least one more time. If he still didn't get what she was trying to tell him, she would drop the matter forever, because it would be obvious by that point that he had no interest in her as a woman other than that of friendship.

"Okay," she whispered. "I will, but… but do you suppose we'll see each other again anytime soon?"

"Huh? How soon do you mean?"

"Maybe… Maybe you c-could come and visit me sometime in my village. I… I know you're going to be busy, running your clan and taking command of the Allied Shinobi Forces now that you're in charge, but… but perhaps you will find time to come see me every now and then? Maybe after you finish a ninja mission and happen to be in the area? P-Provided that I'm not disinherited and thrown out of the Hyuuga compound by my father and the clan elders, you're always welcome!"

Naruto blinked at her invitation. He still didn't get what she was struggling to tell him. "I doubt I'll be able to come any time in the near future as I'll be busy learning everything, but maybe I can drop in every now and then in a couple months after I get the swing of things! You should invite the rest of the guys to come and visit, too! I'm sure they'd like to see you, too!"

Hinata wanted so badly to run right out from the ballroom and start crying. Naruto still didn't understand. It was obvious he didn't share her feelings. She was so stupid to have ever thought for a second that he would like her.

"I… I understand," she said, smiling sadly to him as she spoke. "Well, I hope everything works out well for you, Naruto. Perhaps w-we'll see each other again. I… I think I'll go and offer my invitation to the others. Like you said, it w-would be nice to have them come and visit when they can."

Naruto was confused by Hinata's abrupt change in behavior, but before he could try and ask her why she seemed to be so sad all of the sudden, she turned on her heel, and made her way past other guests and servants to return to the table where the rest of their comrades in the Allied Shinobi Forces were still sitting around and talking.

Naruto had a conflicted feeling in his gut as he watched her stroll away. Had he said something wrong? He hadn't meant to offend her if that was what happened. He had only stated the truth and tried to offer an alternative to her apparent idea that she would grow to be lonely when she returned home by suggesting that she ask her friends and even his own buddies if maybe they'd like to drop by if they were ever near her village since it was unlikely that he would be able to do so soon. Still though, seeing her look so disappointed at his reply and walking away from him the way that she was… he somehow felt guilty for saying it to her in the first place. Why exactly did he feel this way?

"Oh, geez! You went and screwed that up, didn't you, Naruto?"

Naruto jumped and spun around. His mother was standing behind him with an amused smirk on her face as she lightly fanned herself with her green hand fan. Part of him wanted to kick himself for not even noticing that she had managed to sneak up behind him while he and Hinata had been talking. His ninja skills obviously weren't as sharp as usual since he failed to notice her!

"M-Mom! What're you doing here?!" he sputtered, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks for reasons he couldn't quite explain. "Weren't you talking to Granny Tsunade and Sakura and the others?"

Lady Kushina only laughed as she moved slightly so she was standing right next to him. "I excused myself from their company as soon as the two of you were done dancing and came over quietly to listen in. Sometimes I wonder where it was you inherited your brains from," she laughed. "Your father was a genius so obviously not from him, and I'll admit that I may not always be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even _I_ was never as dense as you just were!"

Naruto immediately scowled, clearly offended by her words. "What the hell are you talking about?! Hinata and I were only talking! And why were you eavesdropping at all?! You always told me that it's rude to eavesdrop!"

"Why was I eavesdropping, Naruto? Why, to see how things went between you and Lady Hinata, of course! Everything seemed to be going well, until you foolishly told her that you didn't intend to make any effort to see her again."

"Huh? I never said that! If you were listening at all, you heard me say I could see her again as soon as things settle down in a couple months! It's not as though I was telling her I _never_ wanted to see her again! I… I _do_ want to see her again!" he admitted, his cheeks reddening from telling her this.

"But you didn't clarify that point," Lady Kushina explained. "She probably thought you didn't care one way or another if you two were to ever meet again one day."

Naruto was genuinely surprised by his mother's words, and turned around to watch Hinata speak in pantomime to Kiba at the table for a minute. He was about to look away, until he saw Kiba stand from his chair and offer her his hand. Hinata seemed to be surprised by his gesture, but still smiled kindly to him before placing her hand in his and allowing him to escort her out to the dance floor.

Something about this sight made Naruto angry for a reason he couldn't quite explain. Why did Hinata look so happy right now as she danced with him, and why did he feel so annoyed just watching them? What was this feeling?

"I… I don't understand what's happening, Mom," he muttered, feeling stupid that he couldn't figure out on his own why he felt this way or why Hinata had seemed so disappointed with him when he gave her his reply.

Lady Kushina smiled. "A flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all," she answered rather mysteriously, hoping that he would catch her drift.

Her actions only succeeded in confusing Naruto further. "Huh?"

It was official. Naruto was the biggest idiot in all of Japan. But still, he was her son, and Lady Kushina knew that he would regret it for the rest of his life if he did nothing in regards to the pearlescent-eyed girl currently dancing with the boy from the Inuzuka clan.

"You don't meet a girl like that every dynasty, my son. Don't wait a thousand years before you realize your mistake."

And with one last smile and a pat to his cheek, she turned and walked away, leaving Naruto alone to muse over her words.

For a little while, Naruto didn't move. He just stood there alone as he considered what his mother told him. She honestly thought they would be a good couple and that they both held secret feelings for one another. Did Hinata think that way about him? She was such a shy girl that it was hard to figure out what she was ever thinking, so he had no idea what her feelings toward him might be. But what did he feel for her? She was undeniably beautiful, what with her long, indigo-colored hair and pretty lilac eyes, but that wasn't the main reason as to why he liked her. He thought she was a genuinely sweet girl even though she was rather shy, but in addition to that, she wasn't only brave, she was smart, too. Thinking about her made him feel happy for no reason at all. But the idea of her with someone else, like how she was dancing with Kiba right now… it made him feel angry and irritable. Could this be what jealousy felt like?

With a nervous gulp, the Namikaze heir gazed back over at Hinata. The misery he had unintentionally caused her had vanished from her face, and a cheerful smile had taken its place. She looked so happy as she danced with Kiba, but when her eyes accidentally locked onto his when she so happened to glance over Kiba's shoulder, her face turned a bright shade of pink before looking away, too embarrassed to maintain their eye contact.

A small smile appeared on Naruto's face as he watched her. He would have to talk to her again later on and find out whether or not what his mother had told him about her possibly liking him was true. For now, he would let her dance and enjoy herself. After all, if he didn't manage to get her alone for a few minutes tonight, there was always tomorrow before she left to go home.

He'd find out how she felt very soon.


	11. The Return Home

**At last... it is done...**

 **My masterpiece is done...**

 **The final chapter of A Hyuuga's Honor is finally posted online for all of you, my wonderful readers, to read.**

 **I know this might be hard to believe because it's been over a month since I last updated, but it was hard to write when you have a new puppy. I worked on this chapter little by little every single day since I posted the last chapter in between taking care of Brownie, if that means anything to all of you. I sincerely hope that all of you like it!**

 **I don't have much to say, since this chapter is long enough already without me blabbing on and on, but I will say this: Like I said before a few chapters ago, I have yet to decide on whether or not I want to write a sequel to this story. That being said, the ending is left open in case I ever do write one. It's just that I have to rewatch Mulan II to make a decent outline to a sequel, and I _really_ am not forward to watching it again. Like I said before, the Mulan sequel is garbage, a complete embarrassment to the Disney franchise. I hate it... T_T**

 **Silken Danser will beta this chapter very soon. Just please be patient with all the typos!**

 **Now, for the very last time, I want to thank all my wonderful reviewers:**

 **\- AndyM9594**

 **\- Nami2255**

 **\- Rose Tiger**

 **\- catchthecat**

 **\- Ramrikai**

 **\- Artistry101**

 **-Cloud4012**

 **\- Such a Fucking Lady (Interesting pen name! I just wanted to shout that out!)**

 **\- NH SHIPPER (x2)**

 **\- AnimeLover72636**

 **\- gio08**

 **\- hinataellis**

 **\- Guest (x3) (So sad that I couldn't give you any proper acknowledgement, but I _did_ tell you to leave a pen name, in my defense)**

 **\- jenuzumaki**

 **\- Da-X0315**

 **\- Kitani (x2)**

 **-Anonamys**

 **\- Kakau**

 **\- ironblastharmony**

 **Thank you all so much for you wonderful reviews! Your reviews are what kept me going these past few months as I wrote this story! Thank you so much for all your encouragement! And thank you for helping me break the 200 review count! I literally screamed for joy when I found out that the 200th review had been made! :)**

 **Please note: I do not own Naruto or the movie Mulan. Naruto belongs exclusively to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media, and Mulan belongs to both history itself and Walt Disney Studios. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit.**

 **I know that this is the last chapter, but please remember to review when you're done reading! I love reviews!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 8/11/16, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: The Return Home**

The grand party was nothing short of enchanting to Hinata. She spent the night taking turns dancing with each one of her ninja friends for a time before being whisked away once again by the Kage princesses to indulge in more gossip. They apparently liked her, and desired to speak with her and hear her opinions on things. Talking with girls close to her own age who didn't mind the fact that she stuttered every now and then was a new experience for the shy girl, but it would be a lie to say that she didn't enjoy their company. In fact, by the end of the party, the three princesses actually requested that Hinata keep in touch with them with notes carried by messenger hawks when she returned home, as they wished to maintain a pen pal friendship with her even after she was gone. Hinata was more than happy to oblige their request, as she liked them too. Even if it turned out that she still struggled to make friends with other girls like Ino back in her village when she finally got home, at least she would have three other female friends that she could write to if she ever felt lonely.

Other than that, she was surprised when other clan heirs or young clan heads close to her age requested to dance with her, and she had no choice but to comply since she didn't wish to seem rude. It appeared that now she was famous, it didn't matter whether or not she was shy or that she stammered occasionally. As she was of a young age, unmarried, and currently famous, she was now considered a prized catch for marriage. Some of the boys around her age tried to impress her with their charms during their short chats as they danced, and there were some that looked uninterested in her in general and had to murmur quietly in her ear that although they thought she was a nice girl and a strong warrior, they had been forced by their families to ask her to dance out of hope that she would like them. The boys that were somewhat intimidated by her she could relate to and enjoyed somewhat pleasant conversations with, as she too was overwhelmed by her newfound status, but she was forced to politely refuse the boys that went over the top to try and impress her when they requested to dance with her again.

Some of the boys appeared to be genuinely nice so she felt slightly guilty for turning them down, but there was already a boy that Hinata loved with all her heart and therefore couldn't encourage the courting that her new suitors were subtly suggesting, even though Hinata knew deep down that the blonde Namikaze heir that she cared so deeply for would never see her the same way that she saw him.

Ever since Naruto had unknowingly rejected the confession of her feelings, Hinata had done her best to avoid him for the remainder of the party. She was too upset that he apparently didn't feel for her in the same way she felt for him to be able bear looking him in the eye. It wasn't as though it was hard to steer clear of him either. With everyone at the party wanting a moment of her time, it was easy to focus her attention on them rather than on the blonde boy who had broken her heart. It was hard for her to try to fool everyone for the rest of the night that she was ever so happy that the war was finally over, but if she had been able to pretend for over three months that she was a boy rather than a girl, then she was more than capable of hiding her real feelings behind a fake smile for one night.

And that was exactly what she did. No one had the slightest idea whatsoever that she was anything less than her usual shy, cheerful self when the party finally ended around midnight. It was only when she was safely hidden away in the privacy of her small guest bedroom with just Kurama and Usagi for company that she allowed herself to frown and shed a few tears.

Usagi squeaked out her concerns for her mistress as she hopped up and down on the bed while Hinata changed out of her fancy kimono into a nightdress behind the changing screen in the room, but Hinata ignored the kind little bunny, not wanting to talk to her right now as she simply wished to wallow in her self-grief.

Kurama, on the other hand, was a companion that would not allow himself to be ignored.

"Woman! Why are you ignoring the rabbit?! And why the hell do you look so sad?! I know you generally don't have much self-confidence, but if there was ever a time for you to actually feel proud yourself, this would be it! You just came from a party being held in your honor! You could try to look a little happier!"

"I… I know that, Kurama. I _am_ happy that the war is finally over, but… but I realized tonight that I really am a stupid woman…"

Her response made both spirits blink. Neither of them had expected her to say that. Usagi turned and squeaked angrily at her fox companion, demanding that for once in his life he try to be nice to Hinata so as to figure out why she was so miserable. Kurama grumbled back at the white fur ball, but as soon as he saw Hinata's sorrowful expression and her lower lip trembling as she stepped out from behind the screen and moved toward the vanity table so as to let down her hair from the fancy bun that Matsuri and the other handmaidens had skillfully arranged it in, he sucked in his pride and did as the rabbit had demanded.

"What's the deal? We honestly thought you'd be on cloud nine when you came back from the party. Did people mock you behind their hands?"

Hinata sighed and shook her head at his question as her hair flowed down from its bun and settled freely around her neck. "No, everyone was k-kind, or at the very least civil towards me. Really, Kurama, it's nothing…"

Kurama growled in frustration. "Woman, for no other reason than to get this annoying bunny to stop pestering me to be nice to you, please play ball with me and stop avoiding my questions! Why are you so upset?!"

Hinata slowly turned around to face her two spirit companions as she brushed away the tears that had begun glistening in her eyes with a swipe of her finger, and both animals were instantly silenced upon seeing the wetness starting to run down her cheeks.

"It doesn't matter either way, Kurama, Usagi. It's just about a wish that I was silly enough to… to hope w-would become reality. It's not important, really. Just forget about it…"

Both Kurama and Usagi blinked at her evasive answer, but before either of them could question her any further, she crossed the room so as to sit down at the writing desk in the far corner. She pulled out a pen and a blank sheet of paper from the desk's drawer, and then began scribbling something down in an almost frenzied rush.

"Yo! Now what're you doing?!" Kurama demanded.

"Writing a l-letter to my friends in the army," she answered, not even bothering to look over her shoulder at him or Usagi as she continued to write.

Her words only succeeded in further bewildering her two furry companions. Usagi's tiny little pink nose twitched curiously as Kurama's many orange tails flicked back and forth in obvious confusion.

"What for?" the fox asked.

"We're leaving early t-tomorrow morning. In case I don't see any of them on my way out of the city, they'll be able to find this note so that they'll know w-where I've gone."

Usagi bleated franticly upon hearing this answer, and Kurama hopped off the bed and trotted up to her so as to lightly scratch Hinata's leg with his claws, ensuring he had her full and undivided attention.

"Leaving tomorrow first thing in the morning?! And not even waiting for the chance to say a proper goodbye to anyone?! What the hell happened?!"

Hinata thickly gulped, but she merely frowned in response to her fox companion and turned her attention back to her half finished letter.

"Our l-leaving early was planned prior to… to the mishap that happened. The fact that I'm upset has nothing to do with this."

"Bullshit, Woman! Now, tell me—"

"I… I don't want to talk anymore, Kurama."

"Don't dismiss me! I want—"

"I said, I'm _done_ talking!"

The saddened girl said these last few words so sharply, Usagi made a small squeak of surprise, and Kurama backed away a few steps as he rapidly blinked. They both knew that Hinata had developed a backbone and had learned not to be afraid to speak her mind over the course of the war, but they were surprised that she had used this new skill on them. Normally, she would stay just as kind and caring to the two of them as she had been when she first met them. The young heiress must have been _really_ upset if she was willing to snap at them as she just did in order to get them to leave her alone.

Hinata felt bad for losing her patience with the two creatures that had been by her side since the very beginning of her life changing adventure, but she couldn't deal with Kurama and Usagi's persistence right now. She didn't want them to be prying into her business at this moment. Upon knowing that it would always be unrequited love between her and the hyperactive blonde Namikaze heir, she just wanted to wallow in her grief. The sooner she left the city and began her journey home, the sooner she could try to mend the pieces of her broken heart.

* * *

Dawn was just stretching across the horizon the following morning when Hinata's guest room door opened just a crack. The shy girl hesitantly poked her head out into the hall and looked about anxiously to see whether or not anyone was awake and wandering around. Upon seeing that the palace hall was completely deserted, a great sigh of relief escaped her lips, and she silently opened the door a bit wider until she was able to slip out, and quickly shut it behind her, making no sound whatsoever other than a small click when the door closed. The Hyuuga princess wore her father's flak jacket and chainmail armor over her stolen set of clothes from her cousin. Her Konoha forehead protector and the gold medal the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent had presented her with were around her neck. The sword Kusanagi was in an elegant sheath at her waist. And she had her knapsack slung over her shoulders. She had packed everything up in a rush last night after she was done writing her letter, as she didn't wish to waste any time this morning running all about the room collecting her things.

All except one item, that is.

That particular item Hinata had left on her bed, right beside the letter to her friends explaining her hasty departure.

She felt rather bad for leaving all of them without telling them a proper goodbye, but her mind was made up. She had to face her father and the elders in her clan sooner or later, and she would rather hear their judgment of her for her recent actions as soon as possible. Plus, she missed her family dearly. If the Hyuuga council decided to strip her of her birthright as the clan heiress and then brand her with the seal of servitude of the branch family before throwing her out of the clan compound forever, she wanted to see her parents, Hanabi, Neji, and Tenten one last time. So the sooner she got home, the better. There was no time to wait.

And besides, if she stuck around any longer, there was a good chance she might come face to face with Naruto, and she didn't think she could take the torment of going through another full conversation with the boy who had unknowingly broken her heart.

As Hinata quietly made her way down the hall, there was a small rustling in her pack, and then two furry animal heads poked out so as to give her disapproving looks.

"You still haven't explained why we're leaving like this," Kurama growled.

Usagi bleated twice in agreement.

Hinata ignored them both. She wasn't in the mood to discuss this matter right now. She just wanted to be left alone.

"Woman, do not ignore us!" the fox snarled.

Hinata marched onward down the hall, turning a corner until she found a set of stairs which she silently stole down.

"Answer me, damn it!"

Her footsteps made no sound whatsoever on the short flight of stairs. Had the young heiress tried to tiptoe like this in the Hyuuga compound back before her time serving in the war, she would have surely gotten nervous and accidentally tripped at some point, causing a loud ruckus. Now though, being silent and stealthy was all but second nature to her, and she used her new skills to continue on her way down the steps until she reached the first floor, and then strolled silently along the hall.

"Hinata Hyuuga! I swear I will scream this palace down if you don't tell me right now why we're leaving! Exactly the truth!"

His words definitely made the constant rhythm of light footsteps padding down the hall come to a complete stop. For a long time, there was absolute silence. Hinata did not move. She did not speak. She did not turn around. She just stood there with a frown on her angelic face as she stared, unmoving, at a sign a few feet away that pointed the way to the palace stables.

"Woman! Did you not hear me?! I _said,_ 'I swear I will scream this palace down if—'"

"He didn't get it."

Hinata's words were so quiet that Kurama and Usagi almost didn't hear her, but they were animal spirits and had better ears than humans did, so they just barely managed to catch her words. And her words made absolutely no sense.

"Huh?"

"He… He didn't get it. He d-didn't get what I was trying to tell him…"

Hinata's heart was still aching from Naruto's unknowing rejection of her feelings. She had hoped for almost the entirety of the time she was away at war that perhaps one day after she revealed her true self to Naruto that maybe there would be a future for them together, but when she had tried to reveal to him how she felt, he hadn't understood her. He thought that she was just speaking to him as a friend. It might not have been the same thing as 'I don't feel the same way,' but it was still a rejection nonetheless, and that hurt Hinata more than any blade ever could. She couldn't stay for even a few more hours to say a proper goodbye to anyone… not when she stood the chance of bumping into him again. That would cause her even more pain.

Kurama and Usagi instantly realized what this was really about. Usagi started squeaking sadly at her mistress, but Kurama immediately gave her a cross look.

"Are you telling us that the reason we're leaving at the crack of dawn without telling anyone goodbye is because of your romantic problems?!" he irritably growled.

Hinata blushed bright red. "I… Well, it's yes and no," she said shyly. "I decided last night before… before everything happened with Naruto that we were going to leave today… but our leaving right n-now is a result of that conversation…"

"So you're running away."

It wasn't a question. It was an honest, disapproving statement.

Hinata's expression drooped at his words, and she looked away from her two little companions before slowly trudging on down the hall, following the sign on the wall in the direction of the palace stables.

Usagi's hopped twice in order to get Kurama's attention, and then made several snippy squeaks demanding that he talk Hinata out of this idea this instant. Kurama rolled his eyes, but still obeyed the rabbit's demand. They both knew that their human charge would regret this decision for the rest of her life if she left right now.

"Woman, you've made several stupid decisions over the course of this entire war, starting with the fact that you chose to run away from home and get involved in all of this," the fox said. "But if you run away again, you'll be making the stupidest decision yet."

"How so?" Hinata asked, still not looking at him or Usagi as she turned a corner. "I told everyone last night I was l-leaving today. They won't be all that surprised when they realize I'm gone. And besides… they all knew I couldn't stay here forever. I… I might have been pardoned by the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent, but I have yet to f-face my clan and find out whether or not I'll be punished for I've done. I have to go home and face my family… especially my father…"

"Cut the crap. If that was really a top priority, you wouldn't have left that tattered red scarf of yours behind."

Hinata flinched at those words, but she still didn't stop walking. She had to get out of here now. She had to forget about her precious red scarf. The boy who had given it to her when she was young did not care about her the same way she cared about him. Leaving it behind was her way of trying to force herself to finally put him in the past and move on. If she had brought it with her, she would have only subjected herself to further pain by not wanting to let go of her childhood fantasy of love. It was better for her to just leave it here for Naruto to find. It was his scarf anyway. She was sure he'd want it back, even if it was in shreds now after her fight against Orochimaru.

"It… It d-doesn't matter either way…" she murmured.

"Bullshit it doesn't matter, Woman! Now you just—"

"It _doesn't_ matter!" she abruptly snapped, her words sharp but containing a trace of sadness within them. "I've made up my mind. We're going home. Now. I… I can't s-stay here any longer. I don't think I can bear it if I do. I have to go home…"

And with that, her footsteps grew faster as she speed-walked down the hall. It didn't matter to her what Kurama or Usagi said. She couldn't listen to them anymore. She didn't want to hear their truthful words. She knew deep down that they were right, but she didn't want them to be. She was too emotionally hurt to listen to reason. Every fiber of her being was telling her to get away from Naruto, the one who had unintentionally caused her this pain in the first place, and go back home where he would not be able to accidentally hurt her again.

Nothing anybody said or did was going to stop her from leaving.

Usagi squeaked sadly and Kurama sighed in defeat. It appeared that in this particular matter, nothing either of them did would be able to change their Hyuuga mistress's decision to leave. If she was this adamant on going home right now, there was nothing they could do except respect her decision. After all, the last thing either of them wanted was to nag her to the point of her deciding on a whim to toss them both out of her knapsack and ditch them here in the middle of the palace while she returned home alone.

It took Hinata a few minutes more, but after following the signs on the walls, she finally found the entryway to the palace stables. She was amazed by how many stalls were currently being used. She had known that there would be a number of stalls full thanks to the number of nobles that were currently staying in the palace due to all the celebrations, but she was surprised by the fact that almost all the stalls were occupied by beautiful, well groomed horses of every breed she knew of.

A number of them were still asleep because of the early hour, but the few that were awake neighed and whinnied at her in greeting as she walked past. Hinata smiled pleasantly at all the majestic animals, but they were of little interest to her. Where was Rin? Where was her most loyal, trusted animal friend? She hadn't seen him in over two weeks. Lady Mei had assured her that he had been pampered here in the palace stables ever since she defeated Orochimaru, so where was he? Rin meant everything to Hinata. She wouldn't trade him for anything — not for all the gold or glory in the world.

Her musing was interrupted when she suddenly heard a familiar whinnying from the last stall in the lineup. Her face immediately brightened, and she hurried as fast as she could to see if her hopes were warranted as to which horse was calling out.

Sure enough, a certain snow white stallion was prancing about happily in his stall. Rin was overjoyed to see his girl again. He had smelled Hinata the moment she entered the stables, and couldn't stop himself from neighing loudly in delight. He had been so worried about her these past two weeks. He had enjoyed all the pampering from the palace servants when they groomed him, and they were always kind and gave him extra carrots and apples when they fed him, but they weren't Hinata. Her treats were tastier. She groomed him better. Hinata was his girl. She would always be better.

Hinata's face broke out into a great big smile the moment she saw her horse, and quickly entered the stall to greet him properly. "Rin! Oh, Rin! I missed you so much!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck to hug him tightly. Rin didn't mind. He nickered in happiness as he sniffed her hair, inhaling her scent for the first time in weeks.

The Hyuuga princess lightly laughed as she felt him start to nuzzle his snout against her, and gently stroked his neck. His mane was tangle-free from being freshly brushed the night before. His hooves were clean. His coat was gleaming in the light. He looked as though the palace servants had spoiled him rotten since he first arrived, and yet he still reminded Hinata of home. Home was where she truly belonged, not here in the Imperial Palace. It was time to go back and face her family and clan for the actions that led her to being the Heroine of Japan.

"Rin?" she murmured, still affectionately patting his neck. "Let's go home…"

The snow white horse neighed loudly in approval and bopped his head up and down several times, almost making it look like he was nodding to the idea.

Hinata laughed at the sight as Kurama and Usagi poked their heads out of her knapsack. Usagi happily bleated out a friendly hello to Rin, but Kurama just glared at the four-legged animal.

"Hello, Horse," he grumbled.

The loyal stallion's eyes narrowed upon seeing the nine-tailed fox spirit, and snorted loudly right in his face.

Kurama sputtered in rage. "Why, I ought to—!"

"Enough, Kurama! Don't start a fight!" Hinata gently chastised.

Kurama shot a glare at his human charge, but otherwise kept his mouth shut. He would have loved to shoot a Tailed Beast Ball at that horse for snorting right in his face, but Hinata had ordered him to keep a lid on his temper. He had no choice but to follow her command.

Tiny Usagi had no qualms with Rin, though. She happily squeaked a second greeting before hopping out of Hinata's knapsack to sit on her shoulder, and then nuzzled her petite head against Rin's snout. Rin nickered a bit at the display of affection.

Hinata giggled, and then turned around in the stall so as to go and fetch her set of reigns. To her surprise, beside the stall entrance there was a brand new set of reins and a fine quality leather saddle — an additional thank you gift from the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent for all she had done for them, their families, and all of Japan. Hinata was touched by these presents. She had been planning to ride Rin bareback throughout her entire journey home since the saddle she had brought from home had been ruined back in the mountains when she had cut Rin free from the harness connecting him to the flaming wagon with all the supplies. Her old reins had escaped that whole ordeal unharmed, but it was still nice of the five leaders to give her these.

A small, delighted smile spread across the heiress's face as she hurried to saddle him up. She really didn't have much time to waste. The longer she dawdled in her preparations to leave, the greater the chance that someone could find her and delay her in leaving, and if she was delayed for any reason, she might come face to face with Naruto. That was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Rin neighed playfully when Hinata finished preparing him for their long journey home. The Imperial Palace was beyond luxurious, but he had been cooped up in this stall for a whole two weeks, only being led out for quick walks around the courtyard by the palace servants for exercise for short periods of time. He was ready to start running and be free again.

Hinata smiled, and stroked his mane a few times to show her love before taking hold of the reins, and leading him outside. The sun was just peeking into view over the faraway horizon, lighting up the pastel sky, and the morning air was cool and crisp. It was going to be a truly beautiful day perfect for long distance traveling, and they really did have quite a journey ahead of them.

Hinata swung her body up into the saddle, and then patted Rin's neck to get his attention.

"Are you ready, Rin?" she asked. "W-We… We have a long journey ahead of us. We have to cross the mountains again to get back to the Land of Fire, travel for a time until we get approximately b-back to where the training camp was, and then… and then I suppose it's guesswork in traveling south back home…"

Rin pawed the ground restlessly in reply, eager to be off already, but Kurama grumbled a bit as he and Usagi hid themselves back inside her knapsack.

"Geez, you don't even know part of the way home? It'll only be a matter of time before we're all lost…" he muttered.

"D-Don't worry, Kurama. I still have the map provided in the conscription notice from several months ago. Once we get closer to home, I'll t-take a look at it and figure out the rest of the way home."

"Fine. Whatever…"

Hinata lightly laughed at her guardian's words before focusing on the road ahead. She was facing a long and hard journey ahead of her, but it couldn't be any harder than the adventure she had already been on. And besides, she would not be returning home the same as when she left. She would not be pretending to be someone she was not by disguising herself behind a mask of being the perfect princess that her clan had always wanted or the ideal son her father had always desired. She would be returning home looking and acting as who she truly was on the inside.

She was not Hinata Hyuuga, the dainty porcelain doll and model daughter.

She was not Hiro Hyuuga, the nonexistent but still strong ninja and model son.

She was simply Hinata, the first woman to ever elect to become a ninja, the warrior that had saved Japan, the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, and the misfit first-born daughter of her father.

She did not know whether or not she would be accepted anymore with all her faults that she no longer had any wish to change, but she knew that it was time to face the music and meet everything that she had run away from back home. It was high time that she found out what her family and clan really thought of her. Would they shun her, or would they embrace her? The question was baffling, but the only way to find out was to take the first step forward in this journey. It was time to go home.

That thought brought a smile to Hinata's face, and with a light kick of her heels into Rin's flanks and a sharp snap of the reins, they began trotting away from the palace and out into the main road of the Imperial City.

As Hinata rode down the main street of the city at a somewhat fast pace to reach the city gate, sleepy early morning risers jolted wide awake when they saw their beloved heroine ride past. They all clapped, cheered, and shouted her name as she passed by. On her way out she stopped only once to buy a bit of food for her journey from a vendor that was just opening his stall for the day. Many civilians waved her goodbye and wished her for safe travels on her trip home.

It wasn't until Hinata finally reached the main gate did she turn around, smile, and wave back to all of them.

Because it wasn't just all of them that she was waving her farewell to.

She was also bidding everyone that she cared about in the city goodbye.

* * *

Naruto had a big smile on his face as he entered the Imperial Palace. He was in a superb mood. The party had been great last night. He had reacquainted himself with all his old friends that he had left behind during the course of the war, and he had actually danced with Hinata. Granted, they had only danced once, and afterwards they had had that strange conversation that ended with the shy girl leaving him alone while she went and danced with that prick Kiba, but he was determined to talk to her today. For reasons that were unknown to him, he had been unable to catch Hinata alone for the remainder of the evening after they had danced together. Every time he seemed close to approaching her whenever she was alone for a few moments, she would immediately vanish back into the crowd or would accept a dance from one of the many nobles who now desired her hand in marriage.

That thought brought a scowl to the blond boy's face as he continued on down the hall. The idea of Hinata falling in love with and marrying someone else made him mad. Last night, he hadn't understood exactly why he felt this way, but after talking with his mother Kushina at the gala after she had so rudely eavesdropped on his conversation with Hinata… it would be a lie if he said he hadn't realized that he had developed some feelings toward Hinata. Whether they were love or not, Naruto wasn't sure, but he did know he had to talk to Hinata to know how she felt in return. She was pretty shy, so it was hard for him to sometimes figure out what she was thinking, but he was sure he could try to coax a direct answer out of her for once. This was important, after all. His mother might have been acting rudely when she decided on a whim to listen in on his and Hinata's private conversation, but she had been right about one thing.

Hinata wasn't the type of girl that appeared every day.

She was truly one of a kind and unique, and that was exactly what made her so special.

He had to find out how she might feel for him before she left later on today.

He'd regret it for the rest of his life if he didn't find out.

With a newfound confidence in his step, he approached the doors that led to the dining hall where palace guests generally ate when they weren't privileged enough to dine with the Kage royals, and pushed them open before walking in. To his surprise, Hinata was not currently eating the traditional Japanese breakfast that the palace servants had been kind enough to lay out. Everyone else was there though, excluding Sasuke considering that he too was not staying in the palace since his clan compound was in the city. It looked as though many of them had half finished their meals though, because now all of them except Kankuro and Gaara were gathered around Shikamaru's chair. He was dazedly groaning as if in pain while he clutched the sides of his head with both hands.

"Yo! What's going on, everyone?" Naruto called out, letting go of the door and letting it slam shut behind him.

His loud words combined with the booming sound that the door made earned a strangled yelp from the Nara heir, and he immediately slammed both his hands over his ears to try and deafen the noise. "Shut up…" he groaned. "Shut up and let me go back to sleep…"

Naruto blinked in confusion as Lee passed the army Tactician a hot cup of tea while the other guys gave the Nara a few friendly pats on the back. Kankuro and Gaara remained sitting in their chairs as they ate their breakfast, all but ignoring his strange behavior. In fact, Kankuro was actually failing to muffle his snickers as he wolfed down his pickled plum rice ball and portion of steamed white rice, and Gaara was actively smirking as he ate his egg omelet and calmly sipped his green tea.

Naruto had absolutely no idea what was going on. Why did Shikamaru look like he was in absolute agony? Why weren't Kankuro and Gaara worried about him? Speaking of Kankuro and Gaara, why were they in here at all? Now that they were back in the palace, weren't they required to eat their meals with their father, sister, and the rest of the Kage royals?

But more importantly, where was Hinata? She should have already woken up and be eating breakfast with everyone else, right?

"Uh… is everything okay?" he questioned again, quieter this time, as he approached the table.

Kiba chuckled as he waved his concerns aside. "Everything's fine, Cap— I mean, General. Nothing that won't take care of itself in a couple hours…"

His ninja hound Akamaru barked twice in agreement.

"Yeah, some tea will get him going again, provided of course that he actually drinks it," Choji pointedly added as Shikamaru simply stared at the tea that Lee had presented him with dead eyes.

"I told you all before, eating or drinking anything right now is a drag…" Shikamaru groaned, massaging his temples from hearing all the voices talking. To his ears right now, they sounded like they were yelling.

"You are acting foolishly, Shikamaru," Shino said quietly as he adjusted his trademark dark sunglasses. "The food will revitalize you, and the tea will help settle your stomach."

Shikamaru shot the Aburame a pitiful glare. "How many times do I have to tell you lot…?" he half-heartedly mumbled. "I'll just throw it up again in ten minutes… Stop being so troublesome…"

"Yosh! You are being quite unyouthful right now, Shikamaru!" Lee stated loudly. "We all wish to help you, and yet you are pushing us away! How can your flames of youth thrive again if you don't treat your illness?"

Shikamaru just gasped loudly at the extra loud voice near his ear, and quickly covered his ears again. "Damn it, Lee! I told you… keep your loud mouth down to normal levels for awhile, please!"

"Oops! My utmost apologies!"

"Uh, does someone mind clueing me in?" Naruto asked. "What's up with Shikamaru? He looks like crap!"

Kankuro nearly choked on the portion of rice he had been in the process of swallowing as he snorted in amusement. "The genius was an idiot last night, that's what wrong with him. He drank too much and is now dealing with a killer hangover. You've gotta love karma!" he laughed.

Naruto was confused by Kankuro's seemingly vindictive indifference to their friend's agony. "Karma? What the hell are you talking about? And how come you're both eating in here anyway, Kankuro, Gaara? Shouldn't you two be eating with the rest of the royals?"

"Ah, screw the rest of the royals!" Kankuro guffawed. "Seeing the Lazy Ass toss his cookies is well worth whatever punishment our dad gives us for ditching breakfast with him, Temari, and the Kage's and their families."

Gaara's smirk turned cruel in nature as he spared a look at the pitiful Nara slumped over the table, unable to eat or drink anything at the moment due to his weak stomach. "It's what he deserves and more for the number of times he ignored Kankuro's and my glares and continued dancing with our sister," he explained. "Why punish him ourselves when he is already suffering from his own careless behavior? We consider this justice."

Shikamaru listlessly turned his head to shoot a half hearted glare at the Sand Brothers. "Fuck you both," he groaned. "I never once asked that troublesome woman to be a pain. She _insisted_ on those three dances, remember…? And even after those dances, she refused to leave me alone. Drinking was the only thing I could think of in order to tolerate her… You know, I'm starting to understand why my dad drinks so much all the time back home. It's the only way he can put up with my mother. She's the only woman I know of who's more troublesome than Temari…"

"You could have just ignored her and joined all of us back at the table, Nara," said Gaara as he watched Shikamaru out of the corner of his eye. "Considering you are acting as though you do not like her in the same way she likes you, refusing her should have been easy."

"Damn it, Gaara! She's Kage royalty just like you and Kankuro! That's what makes her so troublesome! Refusing her would have only made things worse! She would have thrown a god damn tantrum and ordered that bodyguard you three and your father have onto me to teach me a lesson…"

He said this all with a loud groan, but the red now staining his cheeks had nothing to do with his hangover.

Kankuro playfully glared. "That has to be the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard in my life! But ordering Baki-sensei to tear you limb from limb…? Not a bad idea… Not a bad idea!"

"Fuck you… Fuck you… Fuck you…"

Everyone else that had been sitting around watching this exchange couldn't help but laugh when they heard Shikamaru's pitiful comeback. Naruto himself laughed a bit, but then he remembered his primary reason for coming to the palace so early today, and got right down to business.

"Um… not to change the subject or anything, but where's Hinata? Shouldn't she be here by now?"

A sly grin appeared on Kiba's face. "Why? Got something important to say to Stutters?" he asked oh-so-casually.

Everyone at the table, including the very ill Shikamaru, couldn't help but share knowing looks at one another when they saw how Naruto's whole face burned red.

"T-That's my business, Kiba, not yours!" he pathetically retorted. "I… I was just curious, that's all!"

"Well for whatever reason you were asking, you should know that she has not arisen yet," stated Shino monotonously.

Naruto was puzzled. "She hasn't? That's strange. She was almost always early for the training sessions in camp in the mornings."

"Yeah, strange," admitted Kankuro with a shrug. "Don't worry about it. It's only eight thirty. She'll be up soon."

"Sit down for now and have some of the miso soup! It's delicious! The palace cooks really know their way in the kitchen! I wish my mom knew the recipe!" said Choji with a smile, ignoring his sick best friend for a moment so as to slurp up his soup.

"Uh, sure, okay," said Naruto with a shrug. It would only be a matter of time before Hinata woke up and joined them all for breakfast. As soon as she was done eating, he'd pull her aside for a few minutes and ask her how she felt. It was no big deal.

As he moved to sit down in an empty spot right next to Gaara, however, a new voice suddenly filled the room.

"She won't be joining all of you."

Everyone turned in their chairs to look back to the doorway. Sasuke had just arrived. He was leaning against the frame of the entryway with his arms folded across his chest, but he didn't have his usual stoic expression on his face. If anything, he seemed to be rather annoyed at something.

Lee quickly saluted him. "Good to see you, Sasuke! Please, if you haven't already had breakfast at your compound, join us! The servants prepared more than enough for all of us!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at Lee for a moment as his jealousy flared over the fact that he liked Sakura, but then he shook away his dark thoughts and addressed everyone in the room.

"Hn. I suppose none of you ever really liked Hinata at all, considering you were all sitting here eating instead of trying to stop her."

His words brought a definite pause to what everyone was doing, and they all stared at him with perplexed expressions and furrowed brows.

"Stop her? What are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked, reviving a bit from his upset stomach so as to give Sasuke a befuddled look. "She's still asleep in her guest bedroom."

Sasuke blinked as realization suddenly dawned on him. "Oh. None of you even know yet…" he mused.

Gaara's eyes narrowed at his words. "Know what? What exactly are you saying?" he demanded.

Sasuke sighed, but then blurted his news right out.

"She's gone. She left a few hours ago."

Silence.

For the longest time, everyone in the room simply stared at the new Uchiha heir with wide eyes as they struggled to process this new information. It didn't want to compute in their brains. Sasuke… he had to be lying about this! Hinata wasn't the type of person to just up and leave them without telling them a proper goodbye! There was no way in hell what he was saying could be true!

"You're lying…" Naruto growled, his heart dropping into his stomach from hearing this as his hands clenched up into tight fists. "Hinata… She's in her room right now, still fast asleep or getting ready to come down to join us for breakfast. She's upstairs! I… I _know_ she is!"

Sasuke frowned at seeing the expression on the face of his childhood friend, but he still shook his head. "No, she's _not._ On my way here, I passed by a group of gossiping civilians. They were all talking about how they saw Hinata ride out of the city on that white horse of hers sometime around daybreak, clearly packed up and ready to make the return trip home. They were telling each other that they should make a trip to the city temple to offer up their prayers for her so that she returns home safely."

Everyone there was surprised to see just how upset Naruto appeared to be upon learning this. His teeth were grinding together in his effort to keep a lid on his temper, and his stance was stiff and rigid as he shook with suppressed hurt and rage. If any of them had been doubtful of how Naruto could possibly feel for Hinata after finding out she was a girl, those doubts were squashed now after seeing this. Naruto might be an idiot, but it was clear that he held some feelings for the Hyuuga heiress. If it hadn't blossomed fully into love yet, then it was at least affection, because although they were all upset at the fact that Hinata had left without telling them goodbye, Naruto seemed to be doing the worst off. He definitely liked her, that was for certain.

Naruto's thoughts were a frantic mess. His best friend Sasuke had been known in the past to be somewhat mean in how he taunted him, but this…? This was a very sick idea of a joke. Hinata couldn't have left without saying anything! She wasn't like that! He was supposed to talk to her today before she left! Why was one of his oldest friends in the world lying to him like this?!

"I don't believe you! She's upstairs! I know she is! And I'm gonna prove it!"

And without another word, Naruto lunged forward, shoved the stoic-faced Uchiha out of his way, and bolted right out the door without another word. The others were taken aback by how desperate the Namikaze heir looked as he all but flew out of the room, and they were left with no other choice but to shove their chairs away from the table and hurry along after him, Choji lingering behind for a few moments so as to provide support for his very ill childhood friend.

Naruto ignored the looks of bewilderment from startled servants as he hurried down the palace halls and up a flight of stairs to get to Hinata's room. He didn't even see them in his haste. He had only one thought in his brain. Get to Hinata's guest bedroom and see that she was still here.

When he finally reached the room the Hyuuga princess was supposed to be staying, he pounded his fist on the door.

"Hey, Hinata! Are you awake?"

There was no reply from beyond the mahogany wood.

The rest of his friends and comrades reached him then, but Naruto didn't even spare them so much as a glance over his shoulder. He just kept pounding on the door.

"Hinata! Please, open up! I need to talk to you!"

All was silent from inside the room.

"Come on, Hinata! Open up! Everyone's out here! We all want to see you!"

The others stared as Naruto continued to pound on the door and plead to the vacant bedroom out of hope that Hinata was inside and would answer him or open the door. It was actually very sad for them to see how desperate the blonde looked as he rapped repeatedly on the hard wood.

Finally, Gaara's sand shot out of his sand gourd and shoved Naruto away from the door. Naruto was annoyed by the interference, and was about to yell at the redhead to stay out of this, but then he saw Gaara stride forward purposefully to the door and knock politely.

"Hinata? My apologies if you are indecent, but we are coming in."

And then, much to the astonishment of everyone else, he simply turned the doorknob and pushed the door open before beckoning everyone else to follow him inside.

Everyone there was filled with dismay when Sasuke's words turned out to be true. The room was devoid of any sign of life whatsoever. Hinata wasn't inside, nor was her important knapsack and bag of supplies. The only visible sign that showed that she had spent any time in this guest bedroom at all was a single sheet of parchment with writing on it left behind on the surface of the bed, and lying beside it was the tattered remains of her beloved red scarf.

For the longest time, no one dared to say anything. They were all too stunned by the fact that Hinata really had decided to leave without saying goodbye to any of them to think up anything to say. Finally, the shocked silence was shattered when Lee hesitantly walked forward, and with shaky hands, picked up the letter lying on top of the bed. He stared at the first few words written at the top, and then looked back up at everyone else.

"It's addressed to all of us. Should… Should I read it out loud?"

Everyone nodded.

Lee gave them all an apologetic look and cleared his throat before beginning to recite the words on the page.

" _Dear Friends,_

 _By the time you all will have found this note, I'll already have left the city. I am very sorry to leave so suddenly and without telling you goodbye, but you may recall last night that I was planning to leave today, so I simply pushed forward the time when I left. Besides, I know all of you would have begged me to stay for at least one day longer. Please don't misunderstand me! The time I spent in the army training and fighting alongside all of you these past few months has been one of the best times I've ever had._

 _It's just that I need to go home. I… I may be the Heroine of Japan in the eyes of all of you, the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent, and the rest of Japan, but I have no idea what the Hyuuga council will say about what I've done. I need to go back and find out if I even still have a home in my clan compound anymore, or if I've been stripped of my rank as the Hyuuga heiress. And if I'm kicked out of the estate, I need to tell my family a proper goodbye. My father, my mother, my little sister, and my cousins? They mean everything to me. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't go home now and see them. The last time they saw me was after an argument I had with my father over his decision to take the spot in the army reserved for the Hyuuga representative! I have to face them again, no matter what happens in regards to my position in the clan._

 _Please, don't consider this letter to be a permanent goodbye. You are all some of the dearest friends I've ever had in my entire life. I asked you all last night, but let me extend the invitation again by saying that if you are ever near my hometown, don't be afraid to come and pay me a visit! Provided that I'm not stripped of my birthright as the clan heiress or thrown out of the clan compound, all of you are always welcome to stop by! I would be very sad if last night was truly my last meeting with any of you!_

 _I'll see you all again someday!_

 _Your Friend,_

 _Hinata Hyuuga_

 _P.S.,_

 _Please tell the ladies in the Kage royalty that I will be sending them my reply about their request to help them in their endeavor of getting their law passed for women everywhere to become ninjas as soon as I've spoken to my father and the Hyuuga clan elders about it, and that regardless of whether or not I'm allowed by my clan to publicly support their cause, I personally think their idea is wonderful!"_

Everyone just stared at Lee as soon as he was done reading. The green spandex-wearing shinobi stared at the words on the page for the longest time before flipping the paper over to see if maybe there was anything else written. He frowned before looking back up at everyone else.

"That's… That's it. There's nothing else," he said sadly.

"She really left?" asked Kiba incredulously. "Just like that?"

"She didn't even say goodbye!" said Kankuro, throwing up his hands in aggravation.

"I don't get it…" Choji said, actually taking the letter from Lee's hands so as to read it himself. "This… This isn't like her. She wouldn't do something like this!"

"Indeed," Shino agreed, peering over Choji's shoulder in order to take a look. "Hinata is not the type to leave without saying anything. What is the reasoning behind this?"

As the others argued with each other over why Hinata had seemingly left without a word to anyone, Naruto stood as still as a statue as he stared at the shredded remains of the red scarf that had been left behind on the bed. He felt so numb and detached as he stared at it with dead eyes. She was really gone. She left. She left without saying anything! He didn't quite know why this hurt him so much. His teeth clenched together and his hands balled up into tight fists. Why did she do this?! He had wanted to talk to her about last night! And the scarf… she had left the scarf he had given her back when they were kids. That made her leaving all the more painful for him. Why didn't she take the scarf with her?! That had been a present! The sight of the ruined remains of the red wool scarf on the bed drove a knife through his heart, and he so badly wanted to pound his fist into something to relieve himself of his internal agony.

Sasuke noticed the expression on the blonde's face as he stared, unmoving, at the scarf left behind on the bed, and quirked a brow. "Did you know something about this, Loser?"

Everyone immediately quieted down and quickly turned to face Naruto, but Naruto didn't answer them. It was like he didn't even hear the question he had been presented with. He just stared at the ruined scarf for a few more tense seconds, and then stepped forward to gingerly pick up the torn red fabric and examine it carefully.

"She left it behind…" he muttered tonelessly. "She… She left it behind…"

The others blinked. None of them fully understood what Hinata's decision to leave the scarf behind symbolized to Naruto. After all, none of them knew the full details of Naruto and Hinata's connected pasts. How could any of them know that back when they were kids, Naruto had given the scarf to Hinata to cheer her up after a group of bullies had teased her about her pearlescent eyes? By leaving it behind now for him to find when he realized she was gone, Hinata was basically saying that she was planning to forget that that event had ever happened.

The Hyuuga heiress had seemingly decided to give up on her feelings of love for the Namikaze heir.

As Naruto clutched the two long pieces of the scarf tightly in his fist, Shikamaru forced himself to forget about his weak stomach for the moment to address his friend.

"It doesn't take a genius to assume that that scarf is important, right?" he asked.

Naruto wordlessly nodded, but didn't even turn his head to look over at the others.

"Damn that troublesome woman…"

"Don't… Don't call her troublesome…" he said listlessly. "She's… She's _not_ troublesome!"

"She obviously is if she's got you in a funk. Seeing you like this is such a drag."

Naruto didn't choose to respond to that. He just continued to stare sadly down at the red woolen shreds.

Gaara studied him for a few seconds, but then something occurred to the redhead, and he quickly spoke up.

"Naruto, isn't Hinata's clan situated in your old hometown?"

Naruto nodded to his longtime friend, still not really looking at any of the others as he did so.

"Then what are you still doing here?"

Naruto wasn't the only one to blink twice at that question. Everyone turned to stare at the third-born son of the Kazekage with bewildered expressions. Not that the idiot blonde understood what it was Gaara was recommending, but the others couldn't believe that it was one of the most seemingly emotionless people out of their whole group that had suggested what they had all been thinking.

"Wait… what?"

"She left her scarf behind, did she not?" Gaara pressed. "You should return it to her."

"Yeah, Dude!" Kiba whooped, actually daring to thump the befuddled spiky-haired blonde on the back. "I'm sure Stutters is probably missing her scarf right about now…"

"You should go home and tell your clan you have urgent business out of the city," Shino advised, adjusting his sunglasses a bit as he spoke. "Tell them that you have to leave immediately."

"Just make sure that you pack plenty of food with you before you go!" said Choji, grinning rather brightly. "I'm sure it's a long trip from here to Hinata's hometown!"

Naruto's cheeks burned bright red as he listened to his friends encouraging him to go after Hinata. His brain was telling him that he should stay behind in the city and start making all the necessary preparations to take over both his new duties as the head of his clan and as the new General in the army, but his heart was telling him differently. His heart was thumping madly in his chest, and was urging him to follow the advice his friends were giving him and go after Hinata. Maybe if he hurried, he could catch up to her before she made it to the mountains. Otherwise, he'd be looking at several weeks' worth of traveling on the road before he made it to his old hometown where Hinata's clan was coincidentally situated.

"Do you… Do you guys really think she would want it back?" he asked, feeling himself grow twice as red in the face as he did so.

Sasuke smirked. "Hn. If there's one thing I've learned over the years of Sakura always fawning after me, it's that women always treasure their most prized possessions. Especially if the boy they like is the one that gave it to them."

Naruto's head whipped around to stare at the Uchiha when he heard that last sentence.

"You… You guys honestly think she likes me?" he whispered, not even noticing the hopeful tone in his voice.

His words earned a groan from Shikamaru. "You're too troublesome for your own good, Naruto… Actually, forget troublesome. You're an idiot."

"Yosh! We cannot answer that, General! It would be unyouthful of us to tell you how Hinata feels when it's obvious she hasn't told you anything!" Lee proclaimed.

"The point is, Naruto, you'll never know if you don't go after her," Kankuro said suggestively.

Naruto mused over everyone's words for a short time, but then a determined expression spread across his face as he clutched the tattered scarf tightly in his fist.

"Sasuke! Gaara! I'm leaving you both in charge of everything in the Allied Shinobi Forces for the next few weeks! Make sure to mail out all those condolence letters by this afternoon!"

And just like that, he ran right out of the room at top speed, leaving the rest of the group no choice but to smirk as they poked their heads out the door in order to watch Naruto sprint away down the palace hallways.

Naruto's thoughts were a scrambled mess as he raced down the hall toward the nearest flight of stairs. He knew that ignoring his new duties in order to chase after Hinata was completely crazy, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Sasuke and Gaara could easily manage everything going on in the army without his help for at least a few weeks, and even though he was sure the elders in his clan would most likely be furious that he intended to blow off his new duties as the Namikaze clan head just to go after Hinata, he was sure his mother could convince them to keep their opinions to themselves. Kushina Namikaze was a kind woman, but let it be said that she had a temper that was unparalleled to anyone else's. No one ever wanted to get on her bad side.

A smile came to Naruto's face as he dashed past a group of startled palace servants and thundered down the stairs two at a time.

He was going after Hinata.

And this time, he didn't intend to let her go.

* * *

For the next few weeks, Hinata traveled without rest on the road.

Now that she was a ninja and could travel long distances at high-speeds on foot, she probably could have traveled faster if she wasn't riding her horse, but Hinata loved Rin more than anything and would never abandon him. The first week was the hardest, considering she had to battle the icy elements on the mountains in the Land of Iron to cross back into her home region of the Land of Fire. The nights were freezing cold as she shivered alone under her thin blanket in her flimsy tent as Rin stood guard outside, but Kurama and Usagi had decided to help their mistress out by cuddling up to her as she slept to try and keep her warm. The Hyuuga heiress tried to use her provisions sparingly, knowing full well that should an emergency happened she would need whatever supplies she had left in order to survive. Thankfully, nothing bad happened, and she and her companions made it safely out of the mountains with plenty of food to spare.

For the remainder of the way home, Hinata rode on horseback through the wilderness of the region, stopping only a handful of times whenever she or Rin needed to rest or to stock up on provisions in villages they passed by. Whenever they had to stop in a village to buy more food or other necessities, everyone in town would immediately recognize her as the new Heroine of Japan, and would swarm around her as they gushed out their praise and beg her to spend a night for free in nothing short of the finest, most luxurious inn in town. Hinata would always blush madly at their praise, but would tactfully turn down their offers to stay the night. She was eager to get home, and although she was grateful for their generous offers, she was unable to accept their requests. The villagers would be very understanding of her reasoning, but they were insistent on giving her the supplies she needed for free, or at least at half price. Hinata felt guilty for taking the things she needed that way, but the townsfolk would not budge on this decision. They refused her when she said she could purchase things at their full price, and would often have to shove the supplies into her hands in order to get her to accept them. Whenever Hinata finally left the small towns after she had everything she needed, just about everyone in the towns would see her off to the village gates, and would wave and cheer to her until she and her snow white horse were nothing more than brief specks in the far off distance.

Hinata was embarrassed by all the attention she was receiving, but she didn't have time to dwell on her new popularity in her home region. She had to get home. Mulling over her new status in life would have to wait until after she had seen her family again.

For the next week and a half, Hinata, Rin, Kurama, and Usagi journeyed back to where the ninja training camp had been approximately set up, and when they arrived at last, Hinata was able to use her map that had been included in the draft notice with directions on how to get there in the first place. As she was now at the training camp, all she had to do was follow the directions in reverse to find her way back home.

And that was exactly what she did. The last stretch of the trip home took less than two days to make, but to Hinata, who grew more nervous with every minute that ticked past as she rode Rin down the familiar path she had traveled several months before, those two days seemed to fly right by. She was so scared. The elders stripping her of her rank as clan heiress? That would be sad to her, but she was more concerned that her immediate family would hate her.

What if they didn't want her anymore?

What if they were ashamed of her despite all her noble deeds whilst in the army?

What if her father, the one she had done all this for in the first place, turned her away the moment she arrived at the clan compound?

What if her mother was disgusted by the fact that her eldest daughter, the one she had always tried to groom into a respectable young lady, was a ninja now, a man's profession?

What if her sweet little sister, the person she adored the most in this world, thought of her as less than trash now because there was a good chance she could now become the new clan heiress?

What if her beloved cousins, the only ones other than her sister who had been her friends before she ran off to join the war, thought of her as a disgrace to the clan now after all she'd done?

She was terrified to discover the answers to these questions.

It was a beautiful morning the day she rode through the main gates of her home village. Just after ten o'clock, to be exact. Many villagers were out and about as they went about their business as they would any other day, but the moment Hinata was spotted riding Rin as she entered the small town, a sudden hush seemed to fall over the entire populace, and people everywhere immediately stopped whatever they had been doing, and simply stood and watched her with awestruck eyes as they whispered excitedly to one another.

Hinata Hyuuga, the heiress to the main branch of the prestigious Hyuuga clan, had once been considered a misfit by the entire town, what with the way she was far too shy and a nervous wreck judging by the way she always stammered after every other word in her sentences, but that was all in the past. They had all heard the rumors that were spreading like wildfire throughout the entire country, so they knew of her heroics. Not to mention, she actually looked like a hero now instead of a disgraced young lady. She wore her father's green flak jacket and Konoha forehead protector around her neck with pride, and the medal she had been given for all her deeds hung around her neck too. The legendary sword Kusanagi was in a sheath at her hip for all the world to see, and she rode her white stallion with one leg on either side of him, not caring at all that riding like that was not proper for a young lady. The stallion held its head up high as he happily carried his mistress past all the mystified townsfolk down the familiar path that led back home.

Hinata's whole face glowed bright red as she steered Rin at a gentle walk through town. These were the people who, in another lifetime, whispered humiliating words behind their hands about the spectacle that the heiress of the Hyuuga clan made when she met with the town matchmaker. But now, the men were muttering words of admiration and the women were watching her with awestruck eyes, both sides amazed by what she had done while she had been away. Small cheers and greetings emerged from everyone's lips as they bowed respectfully to the shy girl as she rode past on her way back home. It seemed as though the villagers in her hometown had at last realized that she was indeed a special girl.

As Hinata passed through town, she happened to notice a certain girl wearing a vividly bright purple kimono with vibrant blue eyes that had her platinum blonde hair tied back into a high ponytail. She was standing beside a young man with straight black hair, dark eyes, and vividly pale skin, who was wearing a black and gray jacket with red straps over a high collared, midriff shirt and black pants. They both watched her as she approached with wide eyes, just as stunned into silence as everyone else was in the village at her return from the war.

It appeared as though Ino was out with her fiancé, Sai.

Hinata had barely spoken more than two words to Sai in the past, so he was even more of a passing acquaintance to her than Ino was, but seeing Ino out in public reminded Hinata of something — something that she had taken from Lord Inoichi's body back in the mountains so she could return it to Ino and her clan.

She was less than a five minute ride away from the Hyuuga compound. She could spare a few more minutes to give Ino her father's forehead protector.

With that thought in mind, Hinata immediately pulled back on the reins to make Rin come to a complete stop, and adjusted the straps of her knapsack momentarily before dismounting her horse. Ino and Sai both blinked when they saw her randomly approach them.

"Hinata?" Ino questioned when the Hyuuga princess came to a stop in front of her and her fiancé.

"Hello, Ino. Hello, Sai," said Hinata pleasantly. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Ino blinked. Not only was the generally shy heiress to the Hyuuga actually addressing her without any hesitation, she wasn't stuttering either, and she was now a famous war hero throughout the entire country. Ino honestly had no idea why Hinata was actually talking to her. She had never hated the shy indigo-haired girl she had known for her entire life, but she barely ever spoke to her. She had always thought that it would be nice for the two of them to be friends, but Hinata was generally so shy, she could barely speak more than two sentences to her before quietly excusing herself from Ino's presence because it was hard for her to talk to anyone outside of her immediate family. So why exactly had Hinata randomly decided to come up and talk to her and her future husband now, when she really should be heading home?

"Yes," she agreed, uncertainty very obvious in her voice as she replied. "Yes, it has been awhile…"

"Almost four months all together, to be precise," noted Sai. The stoic son of the wealthiest artisan merchant in town had never really known Hinata before she ran off to join the war. He only thought of her as simply 'the Hyuuga heiress' and nothing further. The fact that Hinata had come up to talk to the two of them was mildly surprising, but other than that, the dark-haired boy really had no other opinion on what was happening. It was obvious that Hinata had stopped to talk to Ino rather than him. He would just stand off to the side quietly and let the chips fall where they may.

Hinata smiled. In the past, it had always been hard for her to think up things to say whenever she spoke with Ino since the Yamanaka heiress was generally so loud and outgoing, the exact opposite of her. Now though, it seemed as though their roles had been reversed. Ino seemed to be at a total loss for words while she knew exactly what she needed to say. She only hoped that she didn't offend Ino, a girl who had never once wronged her in the past, with what she had to give her.

"Ino?" she began, turning to face the still thoroughly bewildered girl. "I… I know we were never really f-friends in the past, but we were still on good terms with each other. So… So I knew that as soon as I found this, I had to return it to you."

Both Ino and Sai were now completely lost, but before either of them could question her to ask what she meant, Hinata had already slid her arms out of the straps of her knapsack, and swung it around in front of her so she could rummage inside. After a moment, she pulled out a Konoha forehead protector tied off with black cloth which she immediately handed over to Ino.

Ino's breath caught in her throat the moment she saw the simple item, and tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. She knew this Leaf headband. She knew every nick and scratch embedded in the metal. She had grown up looking at this headband, because it was her father's. Her father was dead, though. She, her mother, and the rest of her clan had received the scroll relaying her father's death on the battlefield of the war just over a week ago and of how the last remaining troops in the Allied Shinobi Forces had laid his body to rest in a fire atop a mountain in the Land of Iron along with other dead men in his platoon.

But Hinata had his headband.

She was returning it to her.

She had personally seen to it that her father was properly honored.

Ino had no words as to how grateful she was to her longtime acquaintance for what she had done for her and the rest of her clan.

"Hinata…" she whispered.

Hinata turned a light shade of pink as she smiled at Ino. "I… My platoon didn't arrive in time to save your father or any of the others in his platoon, but… but I knew that if I was in y-your place, I would have liked to have some memoir of my father."

Sai was silent as he watched the happy tears pool forth from his fiancés' eyes. He had only met his would-have-been father-in-law a handful of times before he was sent off to his platoon in the army, but he had always thought that he had been a good man, and judging by the number of times he had caught Ino quietly praying for her father to return home safely from the war, he knew that she loved him. Ino might not have been capable of thanking Hinata at this moment for this kind gesture due to how touched she was, but he could.

"You've done a good thing for my future wife, Hinata," he said calmly. "Thank you."

Hinata felt the blood in her body rush up to her cheeks upon hearing the words of gratitude, and she smiled kindly in return.

"It was my pleasure, Sai… Really, it was no trouble at all."

She glanced at Ino, but Ino still appeared to be at a complete loss for words as she clutched her father's Konoha headband tightly in her hand as her tears glistened on her cheeks.

"I… I have to be going now. I h-have to find out whether or not I'm still welcome at the Hyuuga estate… I'll see you around, Ino, Sai…"

She turned to gather Rin's reins in her hand and quietly marched away so as to give them some privacy as well as continue on her way home, but Ino's voice quickly stopped her.

"Hinata? Maybe… Maybe sometime you could come over to my compound for tea? I… I'd like to repay you for what you've done for both me and my family."

Hinata turned back around to face her with a smile on her face. "It was no trouble, Ino. S-So… so you don't have to repay me, but I still like that idea. I'll see you next Thursday, maybe?"

"That would be great. I'd like to hear all about your heroics in the war!"

The smile on the indigo-haired girl's face only grew in size. Perhaps she would have a true a friend outside of her family, her army friends, and the ladies in the Kage royalty from now on.

"I'll see you on Thursday, then! Bye!"

With one last smile and nod to Ino and Sai, Hinata's grip on her stallions' reins tightened as she turned and led Rin down the street towards the Hyuuga compound. There was no point in riding him any further. Her childhood home was within walking distance from here. She could spend a few extra minutes simply walking the rest of the way. Plus, she was still nervous as to what type of greeting she might receive as soon as she walked through the compound gates. Trying to delay her arrival by walking rather than riding was all she could do now as she struggled to prepare herself to meet up with her family.

As Hinata left the main square in the village behind along with all of the villagers who were still awestruck by her mere presence, she felt a rustling from inside her flak jacket, and Kurama's head warily peeked out from her back collar to make sure that there was no one around who could see him before fully emerging from his hiding spot.

"Nice thing you did there for that girl," he commented.

From the front pocket of the flak jacket, there was serious of high pitched squeaks, and then Usagi poked her head out as she squeaked some more, nodding happily to the fox's statement.

"It was the least I could do for Ino. If I hadn't taken my f-father's place in this war and he ended up dying… I know I would have wanted someone to return his forehead protector to me and my family."

A silence fell between all of them for a short time after Hinata said this as they continued on their way to the Hyuuga compound. In less than a minute, Hinata would be reunited with her family for the first time in months, and Hinata had no idea what type of welcome she would receive. As she nervously fidgeted a bit with Rin's reins as she considered what might happen to her, Kurama lightly scratched her shoulder blades with his cute claws so as to get her attention.

"Ow!"

"Woman! Stop acting so scared! Everything will be fine!"

Usagi bleated her agreement out loud, and even Rin whinnied a bit to show his support.

"I… I can't help it, Kurama. I'm scared… What if they reject me? What if they don't want me anymore?"

The fox was silent for a moment as he considered her words. Hinata didn't really care. She knew that the only emotions he was ever comfortable with revealing to her were anger and annoyance. He very rarely ever chose to reveal his tender side to her, and if he did, his words almost always contained a hidden insult somewhere in them.

"Well, maybe this will get your mind off of things. I'm pretty nervous myself…"

Hinata had to blink when she heard that, as did Rin and Usagi. All three heads immediately turned to look at the fox.

"Y-You're scared, too?"

Kurama shot an irritable look at the surprised heiress. "Don't throw words into my mouth, Woman! I said I was nervous, not scared!"

"But why would you be scared? You said back on the mountain that you joined me so… so you could groom me into a war hero and get your old job back. You've done that! So why are you scared?"

The orange fox groaned. "I also told you that I accidentally blew up your original guardian. The Ten-Tailed Tree. Your ancestors are probably going to be pissed with me because of that. I don't know if they'll even let me back in the shrine…"

Hinata smiled a bit at those words, and reached around her to give the nine-tailed fox an affectionate pat on the head. "Don't worry about that… If they t-turn you away, you can always come and live inside the compound with me. I just know Hanabi will spoil you rotten! And if… And if Father and the clan elders turn me away from the house when I show up, we'll stick together. You, Rin, and Usagi? You're all my three most trusted animal friends! I'd n-never abandon you!"

Rin nickered excitedly at those words and Usagi squeaked happily as she fully hopped out of the pocket of the jacket to nuzzle her white furry head against Hinata's face. They both liked that idea.

Kurama smirked at her offer while he crawled out from his hiding spot on her back and then leapt down to the ground to trot alongside his human charge. "I suppose that would be an acceptable idea, but rest assured, Woman! I do not intend to just accept whatever punishment those old ghosts have thought up for me lying down, so you shouldn't either! Those old farts on the Hyuuga council are probably going to ridicule you, so you just remember to hold your head up high! If there's anything you've learned over the course of these past few months, it's confidence and self respect! You go and show that father of yours and those clan elders that you're no longer the same girl who left here four months ago who was all but afraid of her own shadow!"

"Yes, Kurama. I… I k-know you're right. I'll try to remember that."

By now, the walls of the Hyuuga compound were starting to come into view, and in the far off distance, Hinata could see what appeared to be a young girl in her late teens of the branch family casually sweeping the ground in front of the main gate with a broom. She had been humming lightly to herself as she completed the chore, but then she happened to glance up, and upon seeing Hinata slowly walking towards her as she led Rin by the reins towards the compound, a startled shriek escaped the girls' lips. Hinata froze in mid-step with worry as the branch girl stared at her for the longest time, but then she abruptly dropped the broom and dashed back through the main gate into the luxurious manor.

For the longest time, Hinata didn't move. She couldn't run away anymore — not when a member of the side family had seen her. Within minutes, the entire clan would be alerted to her evident return from the war. But she was terrified. What would happen to her once she had walked the final gap between her and the main entrance and walked in through the front gate? The obvious answer would be that the clan elders would be waiting for her and all but forbid her to cross the threshold of her childhood home, but there was a part of her that hoped that the moment she pushed open the main gate, her family would be standing there, waiting with open arms to welcome her home. It was an unrealistic outcome considering the treasonous actions she had committed, but her only wish now was for her family to still love her.

She just wanted their acceptance.

A simple 'welcome home,' and nothing more would suffice.

But would they tell her that when they saw her, or would they turn her away without a single word?

Kurama seemed to sense her thoughts, and pawed the ground restlessly by her feet to get her attention. "Go on. They're all waiting for you," he urged.

Usagi made several peeps of encouragement as she hopped down from her spot on Hinata's shoulder and landed on top of Kurama's head. It was a typical thing for the tiny little rabbit to do by now, but that didn't stop the fox from grumbling and swatting at her with one of his many tails.

"Stupid rabbit! Get off me!" he growled.

The fuzzy white bunny bleated angrily and planted her bottom firmly down on top of his head, making it clear that she didn't intend to go anywhere.

The orange fox sighed in defeat at the bunny's stubbornness, and then turned back to face Hinata.

"We'll be going on ahead then. We're both spirits from your family shrine. You might have to answer for your actions to the humans in your clan, but the rabbit and me? We answer to your ancestors."

"I… I understand. I'll see you both later!"

Kurama nodded and Usagi squeaked a quick farewell, and then the fox zipped away in the direction of the main gate. He slipped in through a thin crack in the semi open door, and then vanished without another word. Next stop: the Hyuuga family shrine.

With her fox guardian and tiny rabbit spirit companion now gone, Hinata was left standing a few yards away from the main gate of her home with only Rin for company. She was still terrified as to what she would discover as soon as she entered the courtyard of her clan compound, but it wasn't as though she was completely alone. Rin had been with her even longer than either of the little spirits had been. He was her oldest friend. So long as she had him, she knew she could face the people she both loved and was scared to see for the first time in many months.

She nervously smiled as she turned to pat her horse's neck. "Let's go, Rin," she whispered. "Let's go home together…"

Rin neighed loudly before butting his head in a friendly manner against her shoulder. Hinata laughed, but then tightened her grip on his reins before leading him behind her as she walked the last few steps toward the compound gate.

Her hand hovered over the handle to the gate for a moment as she considered what she might find on the other side, and she tried to mentally prepare herself for what might happen.

"Please still love me…" she whispered. "J-Just… Just accept me, that's all I ask… Don't reject me. Let me be part of this family again…"

She took a deep breath to try and settle her nerves, and then timidly swung the gate open.

* * *

The whole time Hinata had left the Hyuuga compound in order to take her father's place in the war, the entire Hyuuga clan was still befuddled over what their clan heiress had done.

The branch family loved Hinata, so most of them spent the day in the family shrine, desperately praying to the ancestors of the clan to protect Hinata in her dangerous endeavor and have her return to them safely, but those that were a part of the main family had conflicted views over what had transpired. Hinata was all but considered to be the failed heiress to their clan, but she was still a good person. Some main family members were like the branch family and hoped that she would at least survive the war, but there were others in the clan, in particular most of the clan elders, that considered her leaving to be a blessing in disguise. Provided of course that her true gender wasn't discovered by the leaders of the Allied Shinobi Forces and their clan wasn't disgraced, her dying in the war was the perfect way to rid their clan of such a failure of a Hyuuga. With Hinata dead and gone, her younger sister could be named the new heiress, and she could restore the honor that Hinata had lost by striking a worthy match with a matchmaker once she became of age.

"It's like the gods answered our prayers!" stated one of the male clan elders late one afternoon as he and some of the other members on the Hyuuga council strolled through the clan gardens. "With that stupid girl gone, we can start rectifying her disgraceful actions immediately."

His fellow members of the council started to nod and voice their agreement, but then a small pebble came flying out from behind a series of bushes nearby, and pelted straight at the man's head.

"Ow!" said the elder, immediately rubbing the sore spot on his cranium, but before he could turn and see just who it was that had dared to attack him like that, more rocks bigger than the one just thrown at him were flung out from the same bushes, and he and the other clan elders were forced to duck so as to avoid being struck.

Moments later, a furious yell resounded from the bushes, and a small girl of thirteen with dark brown hair came dashing out with an enraged expression on her face and a semi large stone clutched tightly in her small hand.

"Fuck you!" Hanabi screamed, trying to strike the man with the rock as he and the other members of the clan council dodged her childish attacks. "Fuck you to hell and back! How dare you say such a thing about my big sister!"

No one in the clan was more worried about Hinata than sweet little Hanabi. It wasn't all that surprising, considering she had been a hysteric mess when it was discovered that Hinata had run away from the compound. The night following her elder sister's impromptu actions, Hanabi had tried to do the same thing she did. She had packed a bag with some food and supplies, stole some of her fellow clansmen's ninja gear for protection, and managed to saddle up a horse. Hanabi wanted her wonderful big sister home, and she wanted her home now. The little pre-teen girl figured that if she could somehow get to the ninja training camp, she could convince Hinata to come home before her true gender was discovered. Her plan was put to a stop before she was able to get more than five miles out of the village. Neji and some other clan ninjas tracked her down easily and forcefully dragged her back home. Hiashi and Hitomi had been furious and worried sick about her, but they couldn't bring it in their hearts to punish their youngest child. Judging by the fact that Hanabi had been crying great trails of tears for hours before Neji and the others found her, Hanabi already knew that she had behaved immaturely, but she was simply at a loss for what she could do for her brave big sister.

Ever since that incident, the clan armory was put under lock and key, completely inaccessible to anyone in the family who did not possess the keys to get inside, which had only been given out to members of the clan that were registered ninjas. It was bad enough that Hinata was long gone and that Hanabi tried to go after her. Neither Hiashi nor the clan elders wanted anyone else in the compound to get the crazy idea of trying to either join the war effort like Hinata did or to be like Hanabi and try to go after Hinata. As much as the elders did not like her, her masquerade as Hiashi's nonexistent son had to be kept secret, because if her deception was discovered, the entire clan would be shamed.

But Hanabi herself had changed. She was still overall a sweet little girl, but she became the first person to be angered should she learn that someone in the clan spoke ill of Hinata. Hinata was her beloved older sister, the kindest and most wonderful person Hanabi knew. She would not stand idly by while the clan elders and people in the main family talked badly about her. Her standing up for Hinata had started small. She would shoot pointed scowls and glares at people when she heard them gossiping about Hinata, but when people just considered her antics childish and utterly forgettable, her temper flared. She began arguing with the members of the clan that hated her sister, and before long, those arguments would erupt into screaming matches where she would swear every cuss word she happened to know at them for speaking so lowly of Hinata. People started to get annoyed with her at this point, but they still considered her young and immature, and otherwise wrote off her actions as regular teenage misbehavior.

That was when Hanabi got violent.

Just like right now, she would scream, kick, punch, and throw anything in her nearby vicinity at the people who spoke of Hinata as though she was worth less than trash, and would be more than pleased when she saw that her attacks left scratches and bruises. She would be severely punished whenever she did this, but Hanabi didn't care in the slightest. No one else in the clan had the guts to stand up against those speaking poorly of Hinata like she was, and she would be damned if she stood around doing nothing when they did this.

After all, this was all she could do for her big sister right now. Hinata was far away trying to save their father's life. But what about her position as a member of this family? Someone in this clan had to help her in return. And who better than Hanabi? Sibling bonds are strong after all, especially between sisters. Hanabi would never let anyone belittle Hinata the way the elders wanted to. That was a promise.

The clan elder who had made the remark that had gotten the small girl mad in the first place was beyond furious at her actions. "Why, you—"

"Lady Hanabi!"

"Stop, little cousin!"

From behind the same cluster of bushes that Hanabi had come out of kicking and screaming came the running forms of Neji and Tenten. They both had worried and frantic looks on their faces as they hurried to restrain their younger cousin and pry the large rock from her hand. With Hanabi's new intolerable behavior, Hiashi had requested that the two of them keep an eye on her and make sure that she didn't continue to act so deplorably before the rest of the clan. Up until now, they had had no trouble with her today. They had been out with Hanabi in the gardens when they caught wind of what the clan elders had been saying, but hadn't been able to stop the preteen from grabbing a series of rocks and launching her attack at the man who had been badmouthing Lady Hinata. Knowing full well that they had to stop her before anything further happened, they had rushed out from where they had been enjoying the day in the gardens to hold her back from her continuous assault.

Hanabi kicked and screamed when she felt the strong, calloused hands of Neji and the small, delicate hands of Tenten tug her away from the clan elder she had been so close to striking with her rock. "Let me go! I'll kill him! I'll kill him!" she screeched.

"Hanabi, please! Calm down!" Tenten begged as she struggled to keep the pearlescent-eyed girl securely in her grasp.

"Control yourself, Lady Hanabi," Neji advised, his words gentle but his eyes glaring pointedly at the elders for their rude comments. "It will all be okay…"

"Like hell it will, Neji!" Hanabi shouted, still struggling as hard as she could against her cousin and cousin-in-law. "They're badmouthing Hinata! They deserve what I'll do to them!"

The male elder who had been making the tactless remarks about Hinata in the first place looked rather miffed by her less than ladylike behavior.

"Lady Hanabi! Stop this at once!" he demanded, his white eyes flashing dangerously as he spoke. "Your behavior is completely unacceptable!"

"Yes, it is most certainly not suitable at all," agreed the woman standing beside him, her calculating eyes narrowing sharply at the second-born daughter to the head of the family. "Your time for acting childishly is coming to an end. You are nearly fourteen-years-old. You are to be the next head of this family, so you must—"

"I am _not_ going to be the next leader of the clan!" Hanabi snipped, her eyes filled with nothing short of absolute hate as she glared at the elders, wanting more than ever for Tenten and Neji to let go of her so that she could stomp on the woman's foot. "That's Big Sis's birthright!"

"It's your birthright too, now," said the man. "Lady Hinata will undoubtedly perish in this war, and when that happens, her position as heiress shall fall to you. You will indeed be the next leader of this clan and—"

With inner strength Hanabi didn't even know she was capable of, she screamed to the high heavens as she finally managed to break away from Neji and Tenten and firmly struck the elder with her fist. The elder was actually knocked back a few steps from the force of her punch, but he had little time to recover, because she was reeling back her fist again for another sucker punch to his stomach.

"My—sister—will—not—die!" the little girl screamed, tears gathering in her generally happy eyes as she struck the man after enunciating each particular word.

She tried to throw some more hits, but Tenten seized hold of her again, and kept her grip firm around her wrist.

"Hanabi, please stop! Let's… Let's go back inside, okay? Didn't you say earlier that Aunt Hitomi bought you a new kimono? Why don't you model it for me and Neji?"

The dark-haired girl with cutesy panda bear shaped buns on her head tried to steer the hysterical girl back inside the compound and away from the scrutiny of the clan elders, but what was said next made her completely freeze up in shock.

"Yes, Lady Hanabi, go with Lady Tenten. Go and shed your tears with the one person who is to be blamed for this entire mess," sneered the womanly elder in disgust.

Hanabi glared at the woman as Tenten slowly turned back around, doing her best to keep a calm expression on her face rather than the guilty look that was threatening to overpower her. Tenten knew that this whole situation with Hinata being forced to partake in the war to save Hiashi was all her fault. Had she never married Neji, he would have gone away to war in Hiashi's place, not Hinata. The shy and kind clan heiress would be here right now, safe from harm, if only she had never married her husband. It was selfish of her to have wished all those months ago that someone else other than Neji would take his place as the Hyuuga representative in the war. Because of her self-centered wish, Hiashi decided he would go instead, and that led to Hinata taking his place in the Allied Shinobi Forces. She was truly a horrible person.

"I… I am sorry I caused trouble for the clan," she said respectfully, trying to keep her voice from trembling too much. "I never wanted any of this to happen! Hinata… she's become one of my dearest friends and I will hate myself forever if—"

She was cut off by Neji suddenly stepping in between her and the elders. A cold glare was on his face as he shielded his wife and youngest cousin from the members of the Hyuuga council.

"Apologize," he demanded, his arms crossed firmly across his chest as he glared, unmoving, at the clan elders.

The elders in attendance were flabbergasted at the audacity of his demand.

"What?!" snapped the male elder.

Neji's scowl only grew darker, but he made sure to keep his voice at a level tone. "I am not pleased with how my younger cousin has acted right now, so I was willing to reprimand her for her behavior in private, and I was willing to ignore the heartless words you just said about Lady Hinata, who is undoubtedly one of the kindest, bravest people any of us will have the privilege of knowing. But you have just disrespected Tenten, my _wife._ You insinuated that everything that has occurred due to Lady Hinata's decision to join the war effort is her fault, and she is completely blameless in this matter. You will apologize to her."

The man, woman, and the other elders were completely enraged by his words.

"How dare you, Neji! You are only a member of the branch family, and yet you dare to speak to us that way?!" shouted the man. "Perhaps you need to be reminded of your place in life!"

The elder made a particular hand sign, and Neji, Tenten, and Hanabi all went rigid when they recognized what it was — the activation hand sign for the seal of servitude imprinted into the skin on Neji's head. The elder was going to cause Neji immeasurable pain simply for talking back to him and his fellow clan leaders in defense of his wife.

Neji's eyes hardened, not wanting to show weakness or regret of his words to any of the elders before him.

Hanabi glared hatefully, hating the fact that the elders were abusing their power.

Tenten desperately tried to force her body between her husband and the male elder.

"Please! I'm sorry for what happened! Don't use the seal on Neji! We'll leave quietly!"

The woman sneered at her. "You may have married the prodigy of the branch family and are now considered a member of this clan, Lady Tenten, but you have yet to understand how this family works! You will stay silent during these matters! You should know by now that your future children will undergo moments like this one day as they will be born to the side branch of the clan, so you might as well—"

"Shut your mouth, Lady Haruka! You forget that young woman happens to be my niece!"

Everyone turned. Standing in the doorway leading back into the main hallways of the compound was Lady Hitomi and Lord Hiashi. Hiashi had a stoic, but still disapproving expression on his face as he gazed pointedly at the clan elders, but Hitomi was actively glaring at the group of adults.

"Mother! Father!" chirped Hanabi, her anger at the elders dissolving away the instant she saw her parents.

"Lady Hitomi, Lord Hiashi," said Lady Haruka, the fury in her voice vanishing and instead taking up a civil tone as she and the other elders bowed in respect. "We were simply—"

"You were simply trying to undermine my eldest daughter, antagonize my youngest daughter, belittle my niece, and harm my nephew!" Hitomi went on, her words sharp as blades as she strolled purposefully forward until she was right in the faces of the elders, Hiashi right on her heels as he maneuvered his way on his crutch. "Hiashi and I heard everything you, Lord Hakuto, and the others were saying! When you disrespect our kin, you disrespect us as well!"

Lord Hakuto's eyes grew cold. "There is a natural order to this world, Lady Hitomi, and those who try to upend it do not fare well… We were only trying to remind your daughter, niece, and nephew of that."

"It is not your place to remind them of that, Lord Hakuto!" said Hitomi, her demeanor completely unfazed by the challenging tone in Lord Hakuto's words. "It is mine and Hiashi's! Leave us at once!"

Lady Haruka only smirked in return. "Very well then, Lady Hitomi. We shall go, but see to it that the three of them understand how the Hyuuga clan works. And remember, should Lady Hinata miraculously survive the war, she shall be taught the meaning of that as well. We on the council have already decided that she will be punished for her treasonous actions once she returns."

Lady Haruka motioned for Lord Hakuto and the others to follow her out of the gardens, but just as they were about to turn and go back inside the main house, a stern voice cut through the air.

"My daughter will not be punished in the slightest when she returns. Not until a clan hearing is held."

The air went still as every head snapped in Lord Hiashi's direction. Hiashi's face was completely stoic as he stared down at the elders. For some reason, the calm expression on his face made him seem all the more frightening, especially considering what he had just ordered upon the expense of Hinata, his eldest daughter and the heiress to the clan.

The Hyuuga clan elders would often convene together to discuss important matters in regards to the whole clan, but a clan hearing was something else entirely. Should a member of the clan, main family or branch family, be put under speculation for having committed an act of treason that could possibly be considered as shameful of the clan as a whole, a clan hearing was held to determine his or her fate of whether or not they would be pardoned and their 'crime' all but forgotten, branded with a seal of servitude of the cadet branch should they come from the main family, or banished from the clan. The last time a clan hearing had been called was almost ten years ago, when it was discovered that a man in his late thirties of the main house had molested a civilian girl of only fifteen in the village. The man had undoubtedly been found guilty for his crimes, and he had been branded with the caged bird seal and sent to the branch family. He had scrubbed the floors and windows of the compound for two months before hanging himself in his bedroom, unwilling to live with the humiliation of losing his position in the main family any longer.

The fact that Hiashi was proposing a trial of this magnitude for his own daughter was astonishing, and his words succeeded in grabbing the attention of everyone present.

"Father?!"

"Lord Hiashi…!"

"Uncle, no!"

"Hiashi! How dare you! That is—"

"—a grand idea!"

Lord Hakuto was nodding eagerly to Hiashi's suggestion with a scheming grin on his face as Lady Haruka smirked at the idea.

"That is an interesting proposition, Lord Hiashi. I must wholeheartedly agree with you. With everything that has happened, a clan hearing sounds more than appropriate. Should Lady Hinata return home again, she'll undergo a trial. We on the council shall discuss this more in detail back in the council chambers. Good day to all of you."

And with one last polite bow to the Lord and Lady Hyuuga, the elders took their leave.

As soon as they were all gone, Hanabi spun around to face her father, her tears running down her face.

"I hate you, Father! I hate you!" the pre-teen girl screamed.

She tried to punch him in the gut in her hysterical moment, but despite the efforts that Hitomi, Neji, and Tenten all made to try and restrain her from attacking her father, Hanabi was too quick. It landed right at his waist, and Hiashi made no attempt to dodge her strike, but when she tried to hit him again, he easily caught her hand in his, and stared down at his wailing daughter with a solemn expression.

"That is enough, Hanabi," he said with a monotone voice. "I will ignore the first strike because you are rightfully angry, but try to hit me again, and there will be serious consequences. This violent streak of yours has to stop."

"Fine! Punish me! I don't care! You deserve it!" Hanabi screamed in her rage. "How dare you tell the elders that it's okay to put Big Sis on trial!"

"Hiashi, Hanabi might be wrong to attempt attacking you, but she is right about Hinata! How could you tell them that?! Do you not love our eldest daughter at all?!" Hitomi demanded.

Everyone stared at Hiashi with baited breath. What was his reasoning for this? Why would he leave Hinata's fate in the entire clan to a trial where all of the elders could judge her as they saw fit when she returned from the war should she survive?

After a tense silence, Hiashi finally answered them.

"I am giving Hinata a chance. Should I have done nothing, she would have been punished by the elders the moment she returns from the war. So long as there is a trial, they will be forced to listen to her and consider things from her perspective."

Everyone blinked when they heard his reasoning. What they had all considered to be a cold decision on his part in regards to Hinata was actually a loving gesture cleverly disguised to appease the clan elders. Hiashi truly was a brilliant man when it came to clan politics.

Hanabi gazed up at her father with tears still clouding her vision, and she wiped them away on the silken sleeve of her casual kimono, not caring at all that the water spots would cause stains. "You… You're going to give Hinata a chance? Really?" she whimpered.

The hardened lines in Hiashi's forehead softened upon hearing her words, and he nodded to her. "As the leader of the clan, I can't just tell the elders that there will be no punishment whatsoever for Hinata, as they will fight me on that decision, but telling them that a hearing will be held will force them to listen to her if she—"

"Hiashi! How dare you say 'if!'" Lady Hitomi said sharply, her eyes full of malice as she glared at her husband. "Hinata… She is a strong girl! She's coming home! I _know_ she is!"

Hiashi frowned. "My apologies, Hitomi. I should not have said that."

"You have done a good thing, Uncle," said Neji. "Lady Hinata will be given a fair chance now. Thank you."

"Yes, Lord Hiashi," agreed Tenten. "Hinata… Hinata will be relieved when she gets back. So long as she presents her case to the clan elders in the right way, there's still the possibility that she won't be banished from the clan!"

Hiashi nodded at his niece-in-law with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Tenten," he declared. "There is no need for you to address me so formally. You are Neji's wife, and that makes you a part of this family. You are not an outsider. You have every right to call me your uncle as you call Hitomi your aunt."

Tenten was taken aback by his words, but then slowly nodded. He was completely right, after all. She had just as much right to calling Hiashi her uncle as Neji did.

"Yes, Lor— I mean, Uncle Hiashi. I'll… I'll do my best to remember that from now on."

Hiashi nodded in return, but as he opened his mouth to address his whole family, a tentative voice softly called out to him.

"Um… pardon me? Lord Hiashi?"

Everyone looked over. Standing in the doorway leading back inside the compound was a small branch girl of maybe seven or eight. She was obviously nervous to be addressing the head of the clan, because as soon as Hiashi turned toward her, she lightly squeaked and ducked her head out of view of the doorframe, only to peek back out shyly after a few moments.

For a long moment, everyone standing in the garden was strongly reminded of Hinata. The little branch girl standing before them was such a shy child. She was just like how Hinata was when she had been her age.

Hitomi smiled warmly to the small girl, and gestured for her to come over. "There's no need to be afraid. You can come out," she said kindly.

With a hesitant nod, the little girl stumbled forward so that she was standing before all of them, and then nervously bowed.

"I… I'm sorry for interrupting all of you, Lord Hiashi, Lady Hitomi," she cutely mumbled. "But… But I was ordered to bring all of you to the main entrance."

Everyone in attendance blinked as Hiashi's brow rose at her words. "May I ask why?" he said.

"A ninja came," said the little girl, twiddling a bit with her fingers to express her shy nature. "He asked for all of you. Says he's got something to give you…"

"Very well, then. You've done well passing along his request," said Hitomi politely. "You may go back to your chores. Thank you for telling us this."

"Yes, Lady Hitomi," said the small girl. And before anyone could say anything else, the little branch girl quickly bowed, and then turned and bolted away back inside, too embarrassed and nervous from having delivered her message to the head of the clan and his wife to walk away slowly.

As soon as she was gone, Hanabi looked back up at her parents. "Why would a ninja not in the clan come here, Mother, Father?" she asked.

"That is a very good question, Hanabi. Let us go and see," said Hiashi.

Everyone nodded, and then followed the leader of the clan back inside the compound to the main entrance.

Sure enough, waiting in the foyer of their home was one of the civilian ninjas of the village. He had been sitting in a chair patiently waiting for all of them to arrive, and upon seeing all of them come in he quickly stood up and respectfully bowed.

"Lord Hyuuga, Lady Hyuuga," said the village ninja rather considerately. "Thank you for seeing me."

Neji and Tenten pulled Hanabi back from trying to peer around her parents to get a better look at their guest as Hiashi and Hitomi nodded courteously in return.

"Of course, sir," said Hitomi. "We of the Hyuuga clan are always a friend to those in the village."

"May we ask what the nature of your visit is?" questioned Hiashi, not one for beating around the bush.

The ninja nodded to the noble lord before reaching into a pouch in his waist. He rummaged about inside it for a moment before bringing out a scroll.

"This arrived via a messenger hawk to the village ninja office a little earlier. It was addressed to you, Lord Hiashi, and your immediate family."

Hanabi tilted her head curiously as she watched the man pass the scroll to her father. She didn't recognize the seal stamped across the paper that kept it from unraveling. She was pretty sure that the symbol wasn't for any other notable ninja clans in the general area. What was this symbol supposed to represent?

She was the only person in the room who was unaware of what it was, though.

Hiashi's face hardened.

Hitomi choked back a sob.

Neji became very pale.

Tenten looked as though she might suddenly be ill.

And why did they all look like this?

Because the seal on the scroll was that of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

All of them except Hanabi were now silently begging for the mercy of the gods above for the words on the page to not contain the death notice of the indigo-haired beauty that they all so deeply loved with all their hearts and souls.

"Hiashi…" Hitomi breathed, a hand reaching up to clutch the fabric of her beautiful kimono right over her heart as her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.

"Thank you for delivering this," said Hiashi tonelessly, his generally stern eyes lacking their usual sharp edge as he looked back up from the messenger. "We appreciate you bringing this to us."

The ninja nodded again. "Of course, Lord Hiashi. It was no trouble at all. Good day to all of you."

He bowed to all of them one last time in farewell, and then showed himself out the door without another word.

Everyone gathered around Hiashi as he slowly broke apart the wax seal, and carefully uncurled the rolled up parchment. He cleared his throat, and then began to recite the words written on the page.

" _Dear Lord Hyuuga and Immediate Family,_

 _My name is Naruto Namikaze of the Namikaze clan stationed in the Imperial City, and the new General of the Allied Shinobi Forces. I am writing to all of you so that you are made aware of your daughter Hinata Hyuuga's brave and noble deeds in the war. Yes, everyone in the city, in particular the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent, are aware that your clan representative is a woman and not a man, but that is currently the last thing on anyone's mind at the moment, as she has done what many in the army, including me, were incapable of doing, let alone dreaming._

 _Your daughter, Hinata Hyuuga, has personally saved the lives of the Four Kage's, the Lady Regent, and the members of the Honorable Families by being the only ninja in the army to stop and kill the snake traitor Orochimaru._

 _Regardless of what anyone else may say or believe about her, Lord Hyuuga, I want you to know that Hinata is a true hero and one of the bravest people I have ever known. You should be proud to have her as your daughter and the heiress of your clan._

 _In more saddening news, I regret to tell you that during her battle with Orochimaru, Hinata was hurt badly, and is currently fighting for her life in a minor coma. Rest assured, Lady Tsunade and Princess Sakura are the two best medics in all of Japan, and they have been tending to her nonstop ever since she stopped the snake summoner, so she is in good hands. We do not know when she will wake up, but both medics say that she should be fine once she does._

 _It is currently unknown to everyone what will happen to Hinata once she wakes up, as no one knows what any of the Kage's have decided to do about her in regards to disguising herself as a boy and joining the army, but everyone is hopeful that they will pardon her. Many of the people in the city, civilian or ninja, believe that she will be spared from death, so please try not to worry too much about that. If that happens, I will be sure to send you another note informing you and your family of the unfortunate news, otherwise try to wait for her to return home in her own time._

 _I'm sure you'll be hearing all about Hinata's deeds in the war before too long from the rumors of travelers and other ninjas. War news travels fast, after all!_

 _Best wishes to you and your family!_

 _From,_

 _Naruto Namikaze_

 _Leading General of the Allied Shinobi Forces."_

There was a long, unbroken silence between the five members of the family after Hiashi finished reading. Then Hitomi seized the scroll from her husband's hands to see the letter for herself. As soon as she was done silently reading the note, she clutched the letter tightly in her fist and began crying tears of joy.

"She's alive…!" she breathed, grasping the scroll close to her chest as her tears rolled down her cheeks. "My sweet daughter… She's alive! The gods have answered our prayers!"

Hanabi began bouncing up and down as she clapped and cheered in delight. "Hinata! Hinata's a hero! My big sister! She's a hero! I always knew she was great!"

"She really took on Orochimaru all by herself?" asked Tenten, politely taking the letter from Hitomi to see that part of the message with her own eyes.

"Lady Hinata… she was undoubtedly reckless to do such a thing," said Neji, peering over his wife's shoulder to read the letter. "But I have to admit, she is far stronger than I believed her to be. I hope she will be all right."

Hanabi shot a glare in her older cousin's direction. "Of course she will be all right, Neji! Hinata would never die in her sleep! My big sister will be coming home any day now! I know she will!"

Hiashi hadn't said anything all this time, instead choosing to remain lost in thought as he mused over the contents of the letter. But upon hearing his youngest child's words, he nodded in agreement.

"Hanabi is correct, Neji. Hinata will be fine. She will be returning home very soon. Now, if you will all excuse me, I must inform the elders of this news. I will see you all at dinner."

And with that, the stoic leader of the clan turned on his heel and marched away without saying anything else.

* * *

Upon learning of her big sister's heroic deeds in the war, in particular of slaying the evil Orochimaru, Hanabi stopped her immature habit of picking fights with anyone in the compound that spoke poorly of Hinata and instead spent every free moment of her time sitting on top of the compound walls for hours at a time, peering anxiously into the far off distance for any sign of her kind and wonderful sister riding her loyal white steed toward home, looking every bit as heroic as the letter from the leader of the army had declared her to be.

She wanted to be the first person in the clan to see her sister when she finally returned. Nothing anyone said or did would prevent her from spending her days sitting on top of the walls to wait for her beloved sister.

Not even bad weather stopped the small girl. One particular day happened to be very rainy, rainy enough that no one in their right mind would normally choose to go outside unless it couldn't be avoided. But that didn't matter to sweet little Hanabi. Dressing herself in a rain coat, a pair of boots, and a set of gloves to try and keep as dry as possible, she ignored the protests from her mother and two cousins as she trudged back outside in the rain. She wasn't stupid enough to risk climbing up the wall in the current weather conditions, but she did drag a fold up chair outside behind her for something to sit on, and moved to sit beside the main gate just on the outside of the compound walls.

Hanabi was shivering in her boots as she sat there with the hood of her coat pulled up over her head. Her teeth were chattering from the freezing wet raindrops and her lips were on the verge of turning blue, but she didn't dare stand up and head back inside.

She loved her big sister more than anyone else in the whole world.

She was going to be the first person Hinata saw when she finally came home.

She wanted to be the first person to hug Hinata like there was no tomorrow the moment she returned.

There was nothing anyone could say or do that was going to make her budge from her chair.

Absolutely nothing.

Except—

"Hanabi, if you are going to sit out here right now, you should have at least brought out an umbrella."

Hanabi turned her head. Hiashi was standing beside her along with a member of the branch family. The branch man was holding an umbrella over her father's head with one hand, and struggling to carry a tray of two cups of piping hot tea in his other. Hiashi was gazing stoically down at his second-born daughter as he leaned on his crutch, and Hanabi blinked up at him in confusion.

"F-Father?" she whimpered, her words faltering a bit due to how cold she was.

Hiashi didn't answer her. He simply turned and took one cup of tea from the tray that the branch member was carrying, and passed it over to Hanabi without a word before taking the other cup for himself. He then readjusted his grip on his crutch so as to hold it under his armpit so he could take the umbrella from the member of the cadet family.

"Thank you for your assistance," he said with a nod.

"Of course, Lord Hiashi," the branch man politely mumbled. He bowed respectfully to the clan leader, and then hurried back inside the compound to get out of the freezing rain.

Hiashi adjusted the umbrella so that it was shielding Hanabi as well as him from the terrible weather before taking a quick sip of his tea. "Your mother is worried about you, Hanabi. She says it's time for you to come in."

Hanabi had difficulty forcing her mouth into a scowl due to her facial muscles feeling all but frozen, but she managed it after only a little trouble. "I… I said it b-before, Father… I don't care if I g-get sick. I'm going to b-be the first person Hinata sees w-when she gets home. I s-swear it…!"

She took a huge gulp of her tea when she was done, desperately needing an energy boost after all the effort it took her just to say those few short sentences.

"Hinata would be very upset if she saw that you were sick at her expense when she finally returns," Hiashi argued. "She knows you love her very much, Hanabi, but she loves you just as much, and seeing you so sick will break her heart."

Hanabi was silent for a time as she considered his words.

"J-Just for a few more m-minutes?" she begged. "What if she c-comes around the corner the s-second… the second we g-go back in? L-Let me wait for a f-few more minutes?"

Hiashi considered her words, but then nodded to her simple request. "Very well, but only for a few more minutes."

They stayed there together for a little while not saying anything. They just ignored the pelting, freezing rain as they sipped their hot cups of tea while scanning the cloudy horizon for any sign of Hinata, not that there was any sign of their lost family member. Eventually, a thought occurred to Hanabi, and she managed to speak a question that had been on her mind ever since that fateful dinner the night Hinata had run away from the compound to take Hiashi's place in the war.

"F-Father… are you ashamed of Hinata?"

Hiashi's face went rigid at his child's question, and his hands, which had been in the process of bringing his cup back to his mouth to take another drink, immediately stilled.

"Hanabi?" he questioned, his tone neutral and not betraying the slightest hint as to what could be going on in his mind.

"I… I'm n-not stupid, Father…" the little girl explained. "I've always k-known about how the elders h-have been trying to convince you f-for ages now to strip H-Hinata of her position and p-pass the title for c-clan heiress to me. I know y-you've never done anything to s-stop them from talking about it… I always thought y-you were just trying to b-be smart in how you deal w-with them, but after what y-you said to Hinata the night s-she left… Did you only ever t-think of her as an h-heiress, or as my sister?"

Hiashi had always believed his youngest daughter was more perceptive than she generally let on with her usual playful persona, which had temporarily become ill-tempered due to her worry about his eldest daughter, but he never suspected that she knew about how the clan elders had been trying to persuade him to make her the new heiress even before Hinata had run off to the warfront. Hanabi was only a child. She shouldn't have known anything at all about that.

"There is not a day that goes by that I do not regret what I said to her that night at dinner, Hanabi," he said after a short time. "I lost my temper with her when I should not have. When she returns, I intend to apologize to her for that."

Hanabi blinked at his reply, but she didn't get the chance to say anything else, because Hiashi was suddenly gesturing her to stand up from her chair.

"It's time to go in now, Hanabi. I'll call for some branch members to draw you a warm bath."

Hanabi reluctantly nodded, and then passed Hiashi her empty cup of tea before standing up from her seat and folding back up her chair. Once she was ready, she followed her father back inside the compound while dragging the chair behind her as she tried to stay shielded from the rain underneath the umbrella.

As she walked though, only one thought swirled about in her mind.

Her father didn't exactly answer her question.

* * *

More weeks passed, and eventually one morning after a hearty breakfast, the whole family decided to spend some time in the clan gardens, persuading an initially reluctant Hanabi to abandon her post on the wall just for an hour with the promise that they would let her stay up there without interruption until dinnertime if she did. Ever since Hinata had left for the war, they all realized just how important their family was, and tried to make time every day to spend time together other than at mealtimes. So now, they were all taking in the morning sunshine together as they enjoyed the day.

Hanabi was hopping over the rocks in the small pond as she played while Tenten giggled at her childish antics and tried to convince her to come back onto solid ground before she slipped and fell in the water.

Neji was pretending to read a book, but his eyes were occasionally glancing up at his wife playing with his younger cousin, and a faint trace of a smile spread across his face.

Hitomi and Hiashi were sitting on the marble bench underneath the cherry blossom tree as they watched the rest of their family enjoy the fresh air. It was truly a lovely family moment, but the only thing that was missing that would make everything perfect was the fact that Hinata was not here.

She should be here, coming outside right now while carrying a tray with a pot of tea and small cups to pass out to everyone. Preparing tea for everyone in the family was one of her favorite hobbies other than pressing flowers. Hinata might not be the perfect heiress that the elders desired her to be, but she was the perfect member of their family. She always had the warmest, brightest smile on her face, and never complained about her failings with the elders no matter how bad things became. She was such a sweet and gentle girl with a heart of gold, but those on the Hyuuga council never seemed to recognize her worth or ever appreciated her.

To not have her here right now, softly smiling as she poured everyone a cup of tea before joining Tenten in watching Hanabi play… it was the only thing that prevented this morning from feeling truly wonderful.

"Hanabi, do be careful, all right?" called out Lady Hitomi as she watched the little girl stumble for a moment as she struggled to maintain her balance on one of the boulders. "You don't want to fall in the pond and get wet, do you?"

Hanabi giggled at her mother's concern. "Don't worry, Mother! I'm being careful! I'm pretending I'm Hinata!"

Her words made the others in her family raise a brow.

"Oh, are you pretending to water walk then, Lady Hanabi?" inquired Neji, shutting his book and fully turning to face her and Tenten. "I assume that Lady Hinata learned that chakra control exercise back at the training camp."

Hanabi shook her head as she hopped to another stone. "Nope! I'm pretending that I'm fighting that snake creep! I'm chasing him all over the Imperial Palace rooftop!"

Hitomi and Tenten both laughed while Hiashi and Neji nodded as small smiles appeared on their faces. By now, they had heard of many different versions of their family member's heroic deeds from the word of fellow ninjas and travelers. Apparently she had managed to destroy an entire mountain with a great and powerful jutsu back on the front lines, and during the epic showdown between her and Orochimaru, she had endured a firestorm that would have killed any other normal person. It was understandable that Hanabi was trying to imitate her sister's legendary fights during her downtime.

Despite what the elders might think, the rest of the world no longer saw Hinata as a misfit anymore.

She was a highly honored hero.

"How's your battle faring, Hanabi?" Tenten asked, smiling brightly to the pre-teen girl. "Are you in a tight spot?"

"No way! I'm whooping Orochimaru's butt! I'm one jutsu away from being victorious!"

A rare look of amusement flitted across Hiashi's face. "See to it that you are, Hanabi. Do not allow that snake summoner to escape."

Hanabi beamed. "Of course, Father!"

Hanabi carefully turned to face another large boulder in the pond. She took a deep breath as she prepared herself, but just as she was about to leap onto it, the sound of a door slamming from somewhere back inside the main house echoed throughout the gardens. Everyone jumped and turned in confusion as they heard footsteps running through the house, followed by excited yelling and cheering as more footsteps started thundering after whoever was running first and started the loud commotion.

The five of them exchanged looks of confusion amongst themselves.

What was going on?

Why did things sound as though some type of frenzy was happening inside?

Was everything okay?

Hiashi grabbed hold of his crutch and hurried to stand. He had to go back in and find out what was happening, but the sudden calling out of his name quickly halted him.

"Lord Hiashi! Lord Hiashi!"

There was still what sounded like excited shouting from members of the clan as they ran through the halls of the Hyuuga compound, all trying to get to one area in particular in the manor house, but a young girl of the branch family that had been given the chore of sweeping the ground in front of the estate this morning was suddenly dashing out into the garden to speak with all of them. She was red in the face and panting for breath from the hard run she'd made in her effort to find the leader of the clan and his family, but an excited smile was on her face as she remembered her manners and made a quick, hasty bow.

"What is going on?" Hiashi demanded. "Why is the clan in an uproar? Has something happened?"

The young branch girl's smile only grew as she eagerly nodded. "She's… She's back, sir! Lady Hinata has finally returned! She's walking up to the main gate as we speak!" she gushed.

The world came to a crashing halt for the five Hyuuga's when they heard her words.

Within seconds, Hiashi, Hitomi, Neji, and Tenten were moving as fast as they could to get back inside the house and were joining the throng of clan members running as fast as they could, all dignity and manners forgotten, to the courtyard in front of the estate. Hanabi was right on their heels, actually electing to jump down into the water around her and spoil the silk of her casual kimono as she swiftly waded out of the water and back onto the grass rather than hop from rock to rock to get out the pond while remaining dry.

Hinata had returned…

There were no sweeter words in all the world.

The five of them followed after the rest of the clan, main family and branch family alike, as they ran through the winding corridors of the compound until they were finally at the doors leading out to the front courtyard. In the mad scramble of people that were trying to squeeze through the set of double doors, Hanabi managed to get swept away from the rest of her family in the sea of bodies to the back of the lineup while the others were all able to exit outside together. There was no time to wait for her to catch up to them though, because in the excited mass of hysteria from everyone in the clan, they were being all but shoved outside to stand in the courtyard alongside everyone else. Hanabi would be by their sides in a few moments, so Hiashi, Hitomi, Neji, and Tenten all forced their way to the front of the crowd standing a short distance away from the main gate leading outside. No one bothered to stop them. They were Hinata's immediate family. They had every right to be the first ones to greet her when she finally opened the gate and came in.

Everyone chattered eagerly amongst themselves as they waited for Hinata to reveal herself. This was an exciting moment for the entire clan. Their heiress had become a war hero in her time away. Would she still be the same person? Did she bring back any medals of honor? How would Lord Hiashi receive her return?

There was a small, barely noticeable push on the wood of the tall gate, and a sudden hush fell over the crowd as they stared at it with wide eyes. She was here. Hinata was finally here…

And with that last thought echoing in everyone's minds, the gate slowly swung open.

* * *

Hinata felt her breath catch in her throat when she walked through the main gate of her childhood home, carefully leading Rin behind her as she did. All of her clansmen were standing before her in the main courtyard and staring at her in wonder. Main family and branch family combined. She hadn't expected this, to be confronted by all the members of her clan the very moment she opened the gate, and she froze in place for a few seconds as a panicked look spread across her face. Were they all here to forcefully shove her back through the gate with no warning whatsoever, or were they here to welcome her home? She was so, so scared to know the answer to that question.

But her focus was soon shifted away from the clan as a whole, because her gaze landed on the few people that were directly in front of the rest of the crowd, and she felt her heart soar just from seeing their faces.

Hitomi's hands were over her mouth as happy tears gathered in her eyes…

Neji stared in wonder as a look of relief spread across his lips without hesitation …

Tenten was trembling as a glowing smile appeared on her face…

Hiashi's hand was gripping his crutch tightly in his hand, still wearing his usual stoic expression…

Her family…

For the longest time, Hinata just stood as still as a statue as she drank in the faces of those she loved with all her heart and soul. She had dreamed of this moment for so long, since the day she had left the compound all those months ago, to be exact. There had been so many times throughout the war that she believed that she would never see any of them again, but here she was, standing before them. She had lost all concept of time and her senses as she stared at them, unable to think of a single word to say. Mere words couldn't even begin to express the swelling in her chest that described how she felt.

But wait… someone was missing. Where was sweet little—?

"Get out of my way! You're blocking me!"

The spell over the eldest Hyuuga princess seemed to be broken by hearing the sudden childish shout, and she peered around her family to focus her attention back on the crowd of her fellow clansmen. Someone very short and with a loud mouth was shoving her way through the jam-packed crowd to get to the front of the lineup, not seeming to care in the slightest that she was elbowing others hard in the gut or stepping on people's toes. She was simply desperate to break free from the crowd, and when her little face appeared among the mass of bodies, Hinata's heart made a leap of unexplainable joy.

Hanabi scowled as she finally broke free from the rest of the crowd and all but stomped her feet as she marched over to where her parents and cousins were standing.

"Hey! What's the big idea, Mother?!" the little preteen girl shrilled as she tugged hard on her mother's kimono. "You, Father, and Neji and Tenten didn't wait for me! You knew how important this was to me! I wanted to be the first person… to see…"

Without breaking eye contact with the child she had prayed to the Hyuuga ancestors every day would return safely, Lady Hitomi simply put her hand on top of Hanabi's head and forced her to turn and look over at who was standing at the main gate, still staring nervously at all of them.

Hanabi's words trailed off as she stared at her older sister. She was so used to seeing Hinata dressed up in plain and casual kimonos when around the compound or wearing more elaborate kimonos when attending formal functions, that seeing her as she was now was a shock. She wore their cousin Neji's baggy clothing and their father's green flak jacket and old Leaf headband proudly just as any man would, but her hair hung loosely around her heart-shaped face, still making her look like the beautiful big sister Hanabi had always known Hinata to be. Even if she wasn't wearing men's clothing and simply wore a potato sack, Hanabi would recognize Hinata in a second. That timid, kind and gentle smile on her face as she looked on at all of them, too shy to step forward or say anything.

This was her sister.

Her beloved older sister.

She had finally come home.

"Big Sister…" Hanabi whispered, taking a single step forward as tears glistened in her pearlescent eyes. Then a joyful smile spread across her face. "Big Sister!"

Hanabi broke out into a run with her arms held out wide, laughing and crying at once as she all but knocked Hinata to the ground when she tackled her in a great big hug. Hinata was home again. It was impossible for the small girl not to hug her big sister with all her might.

"Hinata!"

Rin was quite startled when Hanabi rather suddenly decided to run up and hug Hinata, and he pawed the ground in front of him rather nervously, but Hinata didn't even focus on him. She was flat on her back on the ground, staring up at the little sister that she had feared she would never see again who was full out sobbing as she desperately clung to her clothing. Hanabi… Sweet little Hanabi… Her precious little sister… Hinata started to cry as well as she slowly got back on her feet, and hugged Hanabi back with all her might.

"H-Hanabi…" she whispered, squeezing Hanabi's small frame as tightly as she could. "Hanabi!"

"I… I was so worried about you, Hinata!" Hanabi sobbed into her shoulder. "I was so worried!"

"D-Don't cry, Hanabi…" Hinata said, pulling away from the hug for a moment to gaze down at Hanabi's face and wipe away her tears with her finger. "You look prettier when you smile…"

"I can't! I'm so happy!" Hanabi wailed, crying harder than ever and she buried her face into Hinata's chest as she hugged her again. "I knew you'd come back! No one else believed harder than I did! I knew you'd come back!"

Hinata smiled as she rested her head atop her sister's smaller one. Hanabi. She had missed her so much. There was no one else on earth that could compare to her sister. She was childish and immature at times, but it was moments like this that made her so special. No matter how hard people might try, no one could be matched to Hanabi.

The sound of footsteps approaching made Hinata look up from embracing Hanabi, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Hitomi, Neji, and Tenten coming forward.

Hitomi's eyes were shining through her tears as she beheld the face of her eldest daughter, the daughter she had feared she might have lost in the past few months. Neji and Tenten lingered back as Hitomi gently cupped Hinata's cheek with her hand, simply looking Hinata right in the eye as she cried.

"Mother…" Hinata whispered, more tears clouding her vision as she studied the woman who had loved and raised her.

This simple word made Hitomi gasp through her tears, and less than a second later, Hanabi was forced to let go of Hinata in order to avoid being crushed by her mother as Hitomi pulled Hinata into a bone-crushing hug. Hinata initially gasped when she felt the strength of her mother's embrace, but seconds later she hugged her back just as tight. A mother's love was a precious thing, and to be hugged like this again by Hitomi meant the world to Hinata.

"Hinata! Oh, my precious girl!" Hitomi gushed, stroking her daughter's blue hair softly as she pulled away from the hug to look at her daughter's perfect face once again. "My little girl! I was so afraid we lost you, Darling!"

"Oh, Mother…!" Hinata murmured, burying her face into her shoulder. A mother's loving hug was something no one else could ever be able to replicate. To be held like this again by Hitomi was something indescribable. Hinata lightly sobbed as she hugged her mother tightly, and Hitomi smiled when she felt the tears stain the silk of her kimono. No matter what she may have seen or done in these past few months, her mother was here now to make everything better. A mother always knows best, after all.

Neji watched them for a moment with a content expression on his face, and then awkwardly cleared his throat. "Lady Hinata?" he called out.

Hinata turned. Upon seeing the expression on her dear cousin's face, she forced herself to break free of her mother's grasp and pulled Neji into a hug. Neji was startled for a moment by the fact that Hinata didn't even hesitate to hug him, but he overcame his shock quickly and hugged her back. He was so relieved that she was okay.

"Thank the gods you're all right," he said.

"N-Neji…" Hinata sobbed.

"I failed in my duty to protect you, Lady Hinata," he said sadly. "It is the duty of the branch family to protect the head family, in particular you because you're the clan heiress. I… I'm so sorry I didn't go after you when—"

He was cut off by Hinata squeezing him tighter.

"Don't say that, Neji," she said. "Everything… Everything t-turned out fine in the end. I'm just glad to be back…"

"Good to have you back, Cousin."

Hinata smiled at him as she pulled away from the hug, and then turned to face Tenten, who looked rather hesitant to step forward and greet her.

"Hinata… I am so happy you are okay," she said sadly. "I alone am at fault for you putting yourself in such a dangerous position. I love Neji, but if I had never married him, you would have been here, safe and sound, and he would have been the Hyuuga representative in the war! You have every right to hate me! I don't… I don't expect you to forgive me right away, but… but I want you to know, I will do _everything_ in my power to earn your friendship again one day! So please, please try to—"

Just like with Neji, Tenten was cut off when Hinata suddenly rushed forward and hugged her just as she had hugged Hanabi, Hitomi, and Neji.

"There's n-nothing to forgive, Tenten," Hinata said with a smile. "You are not to blame for anything! It was my choice to go. I couldn't ask for a better cousin or friend than you. I… I'm just g-glad that you're still willing to welcome me home again."

"We're a family, Hinata! We will always be here for you!" Tenten said, surprised by her words.

"Yeah, Big Sis! We all love you!" Hanabi insisted, running up and hugging Hinata again the second her older sister let go of Tenten. "You're irreplaceable, especially to me! You're the only big sister I've got!"

Hinata smiled as she patted Hanabi's head. Hanabi's cheerful little smile was something she had sorely missed while she was away. She was the epitome of playfulness and enthusiasm, that much was certain.

But then the Hyuuga heiress realized just who was not joining in with the rest of her immediate family in welcoming her back, and she slowly looked back up. Hiashi, her father, had not moved at all despite the rest of the family all rushing forward to greet her. His expression was unreadable as he clutched his crutch tightly in hand, and stared on as her little sister, her mother, and her two cousins hugged her tightly and expressed their gratitude that she had returned to them safely.

Hinata's smile faded a bit. Of course her father was hesitant to greet her. She had shamed him and the rest of the clan the night she had left. Just because she was loved and appreciated by the rest of her family didn't mean a thing if Hiashi didn't do the same. He wasn't just her father. He was the head of the clan. His word was the only word that truly mattered in the grand scheme of things. If he rejected her and ordered her to walk back out the main gate, she wouldn't only lose the family that had just hugged and loved her, she would lose her home and position as heiress.

He was the one she had to ask forgiveness from for doing what she had done.

She had to present him with the gifts the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent had presented her with so that he knew that she had restored the honor she had lost during her failed matchmaking session with Lady Anko for their family and clan.

With a small, nervous gulp, Hinata calmly removed Hanabi's hands around her waist without breaking eye contact with her stoic father. Hanabi initially opened her mouth to ask Hinata why she didn't want to keep hugging anymore, but then she saw who it was that Hinata was looking at, and quickly closed her mouth again. Everyone in attendance knew that Hinata still had to speak to Hiashi.

It was only a short distance Hinata had to march to reach Hiashi, but it seemed like the longest, most nerve-wracking walk she had ever faced. She had thought that climbing the stone steps of the Imperial Palace to receive her judgment from the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent or facing Orochimaru in one-on-one combat had been the most intimidating moments in her life, but she knew now that she had been wrong. This alone had to be the most terrifying thing she had ever faced. One word from her father, and she might not only be forbidden to reenter the clan compound, she could be forbidden to ever speak to him, or the rest of her family again. Let the gods have mercy on her and at least grant her pity enough for her father to accept her gifts for the clan with a one worded answer. Even if Hiashi didn't love her anymore and stripped her of her birthright as the Hyuuga heiress, to just be given the privilege to still live here in the compound and be with him, her mother, sister, and cousins again would be more than she could ask for.

When she was at last face to face with Hiashi, Hinata was at a total loss for words for a few seconds, but then she finally remembered her manners and slowly bent down in a low bow.

"F-Father," she whispered. "I… I've returned…"

Hiashi was utterly silent as he appraised his eldest daughter, his face betraying nothing as to what he could possibly be thinking. Hinata was worried about what her father could be considering saying to her, so she quickly went on, determined to make sure he at least accepted her presents from the Four Kage's and the Lady Regent before he passed his judgment about whether or not she was allowed to stay a member of the clan.

"I've brought you the sword of Orochimaru, Kusanagi," she said, reaching down toward her waist for the hilt of her new sword. She nervously unsheathed it, and held it before her as she quickly bowed again. "And a medal from the F-Four Kage's and the Lady Regent!" she went on, quickly tearing the large gold medallion off her neck and showing it to Hiashi before pressing it and the blade of Kusanagi into his hands. "I… I hope you will find honor for the Hyuuga clan in these gifts…"

For a long moment, the silence stretched on, and although Hinata could not see Hiashi's face through the long dark curtain her hair provided around her head as she bowed, she worried that he might throw the blade and the medal down at her feet in absolute disgust. She would not blame him if he did. Had another male ninja in the clan like her cousin Neji presented her father with gifts like these, he would not hesitate to congratulate and declare him as a ninja that had made the clan proud during his time at war. The fact that she, a woman, had earned these gifts by pretending to be a man in order to be a ninja had to be one of the most shameful things that the clan had ever been subjected to.

But then, the sword and medal slipped right out of Hiashi's hands, and he suddenly engulfed Hinata in a loving hug.

Hinata completely froze up as she felt her body being squeezed tightly by her usually stoic father. She had trouble processing what was currently happening. Her father was hugging her. He was hugging her in front of the entire clan. In the past, he would once in a while smile to her, Hanabi, or Neji in front of other clan members, but he had never gone so far as to show this much open affection in front of the entire clan at one time. She had no idea what to think.

But then she heard her father speak, and all her attention was focused solely on him.

"These gifts," Hiashi said, "mean nothing to me compared to your safe return, Hinata."

A warm smile spread across Hinata's face upon hearing these words, and she couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around her father's neck and burying her face into his shoulder as happy tears sprung forth from her eyes.

"F-Father! I've… I've missed you!"

"I as well, Hinata," said Hiashi, hugging her even tighter. "I have missed you as well…"

Seconds later, the rest of their immediate family all rushed forward to hug the two of them together, and the rest of clan, main branch members and side branch members alike, erupted into thunderous clapping and cheering. Hinata might not have been the perfect heiress they had always wanted her to be, but she had not only brought great honor to their clan the likes of which had never been matched before, she had also survived the war. That was a feat that many of them had believed to be all but impossible for the gentle girl. She was going to go on to be the greatest leader of their clan one day after her father retired, that much was certain.

Hinata wept for joy as the five most precious people in her life embraced her together.

She never knew it was possible for her to be so happy.

She still had a place in their hearts.

They still loved her even though she had shamed them by running away.

She was still a part of the family.

Nothing could spoil this wonderful moment for her.

Absolutely nothing.

Except—

"Lady Hinata. You have returned at last."

Hinata broke away from the hugs that her family was giving her to turn around. The two clan elders that had always made her life a living hell in the past as she struggled to be a good heiress for both her father and the clan as a whole were stepping forth from the crowd, and the rest of the Hyuuga council was trailing after them. For a fearful moment, Hinata completely tensed up. Knowing that her father was still welcoming to her was one thing, but pleasing the Hyuuga elders was an entirely different matter. How exactly was she supposed to explain her actions to them?

Knowing that every second counted when it came to dealing with the elders, Hinata forced herself to politely bow before them. "Lord Elders, Lady Elders…" she said respectfully, feeling thankful of the fact that she managed to keep herself from stuttering as she addressed them.

The elders all blinked with surprise when they too realized that Hinata wasn't stuttering, and that was concerning to them. In the past, they always knew that they had the upper hand on Hinata because they could tell that they made her extremely nervous whenever she stuttered. It was clear that she was somewhat nervous to be standing before all of them now, but they weren't sure as to how tense she was because her words were stutter-free. If they wanted to maintain the dominant role that they had established over the years with the clan heiress, they needed to work fast. And by work fast, that meant getting straight to business with the deal they had struck with Hiashi prior to Hinata's return.

"Lady Hinata, there is much to be discussed," said Lady Haruka, her voice taking on a no-nonsense tone that said her words were not up for debate. "Follow us, please."

The other elders nodded at once at her words, but Hinata was puzzled as to what she wanted. Before she could open her mouth and ask what she meant by that, Hiashi's eyes narrowed in suppressed anger.

"Lady Haruka, Hinata has only just returned," he said firmly, his voice rather challenging. "There is plenty of time for her to relay her… _adventure_ to everyone at a later date. Right now, I am sure that she would rather rest and spend time with me and the rest of our family."

Hinata felt Hitomi's hand on her shoulder tighten and Hanabi hugging her fearfully as they both glanced nervously at the clan elders, and even Neji and Tenten were doing their best to shield her from their view. Something very big was obviously happening concerning the elders, but she was in the dark, and judging by the confused murmuring being exchanged by the other clansmen that were watching from the sidelines, they were too. What was going on?

"Father? Is… Is everything all right?" she questioned.

Hiashi stiffened. How was he supposed to explain to his eldest daughter that she had to face a clan hearing from the elders because of her decision to take his place in the war? He knew the elders wanted this done as soon as possible, but he hadn't expected that they would try to put her on trial the very instant she walked through the gate. She deserved at least one night of relaxation as she made up for lost time with him and the rest of the family before the elders attacked her and tried to finally strip her of her birthright.

"It's nothing, Hinata. Nothing that can't be _postponed_ until tomorrow, at the very least," said Hiashi pointedly, his stern eyes fixated solely on the elders as he spoke.

Lord Hakuto's eyes narrowed. "Lord Hiashi, such matters cannot be postponed for even a moment. Everyone on the council wants to know just what Lady Hinata has done during her time away. She must come with us immediately. She needs to answer to the council."

"Now see here!" snapped Lady Hitomi, now stepping forward to stand beside her husband. "The Hyuuga ancestors have smiled down upon my family by guiding my eldest child back home again! I insist that Hinata be given at least one night's rest before all of you demand details from her!"

Lady Haruka fought to keep her tone civil. "Lady Hitomi, we understand that this is an emotional moment for everyone, but we on the council need to know exactly what she has said and done during her… _adventure_ as Lord Hiashi so kindly put it. We need to begin her hearing immediately."

"A h-hearing? I… I'm to be put on trial?"

All heads immediately turned toward Hinata. She had definitely been surprised to learn about this tidbit of information, as her stutter had momentarily returned. Hinata was staring at the council members with wide eyes. She had anticipated that the clan elders wouldn't exactly be pleased with her endeavor to masquerade as a boy in the war so as to save her father's life, but she had always assumed during her months away that she would either be welcomed back into the compound with open arms from her family and the rest of the clan the second she arrived, or immediately be thrown back out of the gates with nothing but the clothes on her back and her title of clan heiress stripped away. She never anticipated that they would want to hear her story first before passing their judgment.

Hiashi stiffened. If Hinata didn't know her father as well as she did, she wouldn't have been able to pick up the very subtle hints that he was now rather uncomfortable after she had voiced her question, but she didn't get a chance to say anything to him, as Lord Hakuto was now speaking.

"That is correct, Lady Hinata. Your father convinced us that we ought to hear your story first before we make a decision as to what should be done about you. The rest of the country might be worshipping you now, but you are still a member of this clan, not to mention the clan heiress. We have the ultimate power to decide whether or not you have brought honor to the family."

Hinata understood the underlying message he was telling her all too well. The fact that they wanted to put her on trial was simply a formality before they could go ahead with the already pre-decided verdict to brand her with the caged bird seal of the branch family and strip her of her rank of the clan heiress. It would be a miracle to be able to get through this meeting with the clan elders without being punished at all after telling them her story, but she would not make the same mistake she had made so many times in the past whenever she dealt with them. She would not show them that she was afraid. She was still her father's first-born daughter, and still technically the next leader of this family until the conclusion of this meeting they wanted with her. She would attend this clan hearing with her head held high.

"Very well. I understand," she told the elders, feeling rather proud of herself for not stuttering at all. "I will attend this trial. I only have one request before it begins."

"Oh?" said Lady Haruka, she and the rest of the elders looking rather intrigued at the fact that she was not protesting to being forced to go to her trial without any prior warning. "And what would that be?"

Hinata smiled. "I know that… that clan trials generally take place in the council chambers, but I am sure that the rest of the clan wants to hear my story as well. I would prefer to have the hearing take place in the Great Hall so that they can listen in, b-because it is the only room in the compound that is large enough to host everyone easily."

Everyone had to blink twice at Hinata's request. In the many times in the past whenever a member of the Hyuuga clan was put on trial by the clan elders, never once had the accused requested that the hearing was to take place in another location other than in the council chambers, and for no other reason than to allow everyone in the compound to watch and hear the proceedings.

The elders in particular were outraged by the audacity of Hinata's request, but they were masters at concealing their true emotions.

"Lady Hinata," said Lady Haruka, her face fixed in a rather tight expression. "That sort of thing has never happened before in the history of the Hyuuga clan. Having other clan members present while you tell your story is completely unheard of. We shall have your trial in the clan council chambers, as it has always been done in the past."

Lady Haruka's words held a no-room-for-discussion manner to them, but Hinata was not at all deterred. She was not going to be pushed around by the elders of this clan any longer — not when it came to such trivial matters like this.

Hinata's eyes hardened with inner strength she had never possessed before running away to join the war effort. "The hearing," she said, sounding firmer than anyone there had ever heard her to be before and it took them all aback, "will take place in the Great Hall. Or else there will be no hearing at all."

Lord Hakuto's eyes went wide. "Lady Hinata! You _dare_ to speak that way to—"

"I believe that I am being quite reasonable with my request, Lord Elder," Hinata went on, her voice still very strong. "I… I will agree to attend this trial that you have decided upon, but I wish to tell my tale to everyone. If you d-don't… If you don't like it, then simply sentence me now and be done with it. I am not ashamed."

Hinata's family was staring at her in amazement, knowing in the past that it would have been a miracle for the shy girl to ever manage to speak that way in general to anyone, let alone the clan elders. She spoke with minimum stuttering and pausing between words, and with such resolve to her voice that had never been heard from the clan heiress before. She was definitely a changed woman from her time at war.

Lord Hakuto was furious upon also realizing this fact, but he kept his temper in check. There was plenty of time to punish Hinata for her newfound attitude after the trial. Her punishment had already been decided upon for shaming the clan as she had. She was already going to be stripped of her rank as clan heiress and banished from the compound. She would get what she deserved in due time.

"Very well then," he said through gritted teeth. "Just please return to your room and change into something more appropriate and we will—"

"There is no point," Hinata interrupted. "You're already putting me on trial for pretending to be my f-father's nonexistent son in the army. The fact that I am wearing his flak jacket and my cousin Neji's ninja clothes right now rather than a nice kimono makes no difference, considering it's part of what this trial is even about."

Lady Haruka looked as though she was mortified by this statement, but Lord Hakuto appeared to grow even angrier. What had happened to the shy girl that they knew in the past? This Hinata was so very different from the Hinata that they had easily intimidated as she grew up, trying to force her into being the perfect heiress for the clan. Talking down to her during the proceedings for the hearing was apparently going to be more difficult than they had originally thought.

"If you insist, Lady Hinata," said Lord Hakuto, his eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"Follow us then, if you please," said Lady Haruka, vaguely waving her hand toward Hinata for her to follow them back inside the compound.

As a young branch man stepped aside to lead Rin toward the clan stables to unsaddle him and put him back in his old stall, Hinata walked with her head held high after the clan elders, followed closely behind by her family and the rest of the clan. She was scared of what may happen next, but she was determined to tell her story to everyone in the Hyuuga clan no matter what happened to her. Regardless of what the elders thought of her, she still had the love of her family at the end of the day, and that was all that really mattered to her in the end.

Even if the elders threw her out of the compound before the day was over and took away her birthright of clan heiress, they couldn't take away the fact that the rest of the country loved her for her bravery and dubbed her as a hero.

She was more than just 'Hinata, the Disgraced Hyuuga Heiress,' now.

She was 'Hinata, the Heroine of Japan.'

She was the world's first female ninja, a kunoichi.

She was about to enter a whole new battlefield with a different kind of enemy.

And she was going to fight as hard as she could to stay a part of her family.

* * *

As soon as everyone from both sides of the clan were gathered in the Great Hall and had found places to sit down, Hinata stepped into the exact center of the room while facing the many elders seated in high chairs looking down their noses at her and began her tale.

She started it right from the very beginning, explaining all about how she had been so scared for her father when the draft notice was sent out and he had refused to send Neji or another ninja in the clan, and had insisted on going himself. She told them all that her decision to go in his stead had literally simply been a wild idea that had popped into her head while crying outside in the pouring rain after the argument between her and the rest of her immediate family at dinner that night, and she had upped and left before she could even think of talking herself out of the it.

Explaining to everyone why she left was easy.

It was explaining everything that happened next that was hard, especially when it came time to talk about the two friends she had made before arriving at the ninja training camp.

"What do you mean, you had a Hyuuga guardian watching over you?" questioned one of the elders curiously as she stumbled through her explanation of her nine-tailed fox guardian and the tiny rabbit spirit that had met her on the way to the campgrounds. "The clan guardian statues supposedly coming to life are thought to be nothing more than a myth."

"And what of this rabbit spirit?" asked another council member. "I was under the impression that that little creature that was summoned from the family shrine for you on the day of your appointment with Lady Anko belonged to Lady Hanabi."

Hinata bit her lower lip. It wasn't that she was ashamed of her two animal companions that had been by her side throughout the entire course of the war. Far from it, actually! Kurama and little Usagi had saved her life numerous times, especially during her fight with Orochimaru at the palace! No, it wasn't that she was embarrassed by them that made her reluctant to reveal their part in the story to her family, who were listening intently off to the side, and the rest of the clan.

It was the fact that she was certain that everyone in attendance, particularly the clan elders, were going to assume that she was insane in the head for believing that two little spirits had been watching over her from day one of her life changing journey.

"I… I'm not quite sure what you expect me to say," she finally said after a short pause. "Like I said, I had stopped to take a break by a r-river while on my way to the training camp, and while I was there they appeared before me. Hanabi named the little rabbit spirit Usagi back when she first summoned her from the ancestral tablets, so I just used that name for the bunny throughout the entire war. I don't think the little rabbit actually minded… Kurama however was the orange fox with the many tails, and he already had his name when I met him. He was a little rude at t-times and short-tempered, but he introduced himself as one of the Hyuuga clan guardians from the family shrine, and that… and that the Hyuuga ancestors sent him to protect me and help keep my true gender a secret from everyone in the army during the course of the war."

There was a long pause in the tale as low murmurs filled the Great Hall. The quiet onlookers to the trial had been unable to keep silent after hearing this, and they whispered curiously amongst themselves. It had been many years since a member of the Hyuuga clan had claimed that one of the ancient guardian statues had come to life and guided them throughout their journey. In fact, out of the notable times that it happened, those Hyuugas were said to have gone down in history as great legendary heroes in the clan. While it was true that Hinata Hyuuga would definitely be going down in history due to her involvement in the war, they still had yet to find out if her being the world's first female ninja was an honor to all of them in the clan, or simply a disgrace.

While the idea of the little rabbit spirit tagging along for the ride didn't rouse that much concern, the elders didn't want to believe that Hinata could have been blessed with a guardian spirit by the Hyuuga ancestors during her journey. She was the failure of the family. She was supposed to tell her ridiculous story and then they would easily throw her out of the compound. It was supposed to have been so simple, but this little tidbit of information was… 'unbelievable' would have to be the right word.

The best course of action was to simply act as though this was a sign that Hinata wasn't exactly in her right mind after everything that had occurred.

"Oh, yes, of course!" said Lady Haruka with obvious exaggeration and a rude eye roll. "A great Hyuuga guardian spirit! The ancestors considered Lady Hinata someone who would go down in history! We should all be praising her for her so-called great guardian!"

A number of the elders and even some members of the main branch of the clan had to choke back rather obvious laughs from hearing Lady Haruka's words.

Hinata's cheeks flared red hot in humiliation and anger. How dare Lady Haruka mock Kurama in this fashion! He might not always be a kind fox, but he was her friend, teacher, and had literally been the only creature that was on her side and that she could actually hold a conversation with during her first few months at the ninja training camp! And she most certainly did not imagine him up!

"Hey! You old bat! Are you calling my big sister insane?!" shouted Hanabi, jumping to her feet from her seat at the small table where she, her parents, and her two cousins were watching everything from off to the side. "Hinata's not crazy! She's perfect! And you're nothing short of a—"

"Hanabi! Enough!" interrupted Hitomi as she too stood up and grabbed hold of the small girl's shoulder. "Sit down at once!"

"But Mother! That mean woman was insulting Hinata!"

"Hanabi. Listen to your mother. Sit down _now."_

Hiashi shot his youngest daughter a cross look as he spoke, silently warning her of the inevitable punishment that would follow after the hearing was over should she not listen to what he and Hitomi were telling her. Hanabi was miffed at the order, but nonetheless begrudgingly sat back down again. As soon as she was seated once more in her chair, Hiashi turned toward the members of the high council.

"If you are insinuating something about Hinata's mentality, Lady Haruka, I highly advise you to remember that she is still the heiress to this clan and my eldest child," he said sternly.

"Lord Hiashi, you cannot deny that what Lady Hinata is telling all of us is very farfetched," argued Lord Hakuto. "You mustn't blame Lady Haruka — or any of us for that matter — for not believing what she says. Logically, the Hyuuga clan guardian statues coming to life and guiding particular members of the clan is simply a fairy tale! And besides, even if Lady Hinata is telling the truth, where are these so-called spirits right now? There was no trace of them when she entered the compound."

"I'll prove it to you, then."

Everyone turned back to Hinata. She was staring intently at Lord Hakuto and the rest of the elders. There was no trace of anger in her face. Just plain determination. Determination to prove to everyone that she wasn't insane.

Lady Haruka blinked at her words. "Prove it? How exactly can you do that? Like Lord Hakuto just stated, we see no sign at all of a fox guardian or a small rabbit spirit."

"They both r-ran ahead of me into the compound in order to return to the family shrine," Hinata explained. "They needed to go and speak with the Hyuuga ancestors spirits. As soon as I've finished telling all of you my story, I will go and fetch them."

Lord Hakuto scoffed. "What, you can't fetch them now?" he chuckled.

Hinata's hands clenched up into tight, shaking fists. They were assuming that she was slow in the head because she couldn't make Kurama and Usagi appear out of thin air. It wasn't her fault that they had to go and speak to the ancestral ghosts of the clan immediately upon arriving at the estate.

"L-Like I just said, Lord Hakuto," she said bravely. "Kurama and Usagi are both currently engaged in their own meeting with their superiors. I will go and see if they have concluded with their m-meeting after I've told all of you my whole story. May I continue now, please?"

The elders were furious at Hinata for refusing to go and fetch her 'friends' right away for all of them to see with their own eyes, but they nonetheless nodded and motioned for her to go on.

And so Hinata did. She went on to tell them all about her first few hours upon arriving in the training camp, and because the elders demanded details when she tried to just give the basic facts about the fight, she was forced to fully explain how Kurama's loud mouth ended up landing her — or rather, 'Hiro' Hyuuga — in the middle of a fight between Kiba, Choji, Lee, Shino, and Kankuro and consequently on the bad side of Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru. She was also forced to describe how at the very beginning of training, she was basically bullied by all of them twenty-four seven, even more so when it was discovered that she initially had no skills as a ninja warrior and was considered to be all but a joke in terms of jutsus or fighting, especially since 'Hiro' was the heir of the so-called Hyuuga clan.

The elders didn't bother hiding the fact that they were pissed with her upon hearing this. With the exception of Lee, who was simply a civilian-born ninja and had no real weight in the terms of ninja clan hierarchy, everyone else on the list of names Hinata had presented them with were either the heirs to their clans or superior ninjas in their clans, and Kankuro was the eldest son of the Kazekage! The fact that Hinata had managed to get on the bad side of all of them was bad news for the clan. It meant that they could persuade the leaders of their clans to stop associating with the Hyuuga clan simply because of how Hinata had poorly represented the entire clan as a whole during the course of the war. And because she was representing the clan in the war, her lack of skills meant that the other clans might start to consider them weaker than theirs. It wasn't exactly surprising that she had had a rough start learning everything at camp in the beginning, considering that she was a woman and had never trained alongside the other ninjas of the clan in the art of the Gentle Fist, but that didn't matter to the elders. It was just another reason in their eyes to think poorly of her.

Had she heard such things being said about her from the clan elders many months ago before all of this had happened, Hinata probably would have felt sad that the elders were only concerned about how her actions reflected the clan as a whole rather than being concerned about her since she basically had no friends at the beginning of training. But now, she mainly felt irritated upon hearing this. How she felt upon being ostracized by everyone in camp while struggling to learn the skills that they were supposed to be learning at during training in her first few weeks there weren't even being taken into account in the elders' eyes. She as a person did not matter to these people. All they cared about was the outlook of the whole clan.

Still though, she didn't lose heart. She explained how during the day she learned about basic ninja skills needed while out on the battlefield with the rest of the troops and that every morning they tried the daily exercise of attempting to retrieve Captain Naruto's special kunai from the top of the large pine pole. Then she described how at night, Kurama gave her nightly lessons on how to perform the clan's unique taijutsu style of the Gentle Fist, and even taught her how to perform the secret fighting techniques that could only be used by ninjas that possessed the Byakugan.

This time, no one in the clan bothered trying to hide their disbelief at her words.

Obnoxious laughter echoed throughout the Great Hall.

"Lady Hinata, we are sure you did the best you could while acting as a ninja in the army, but lying to us in unacceptable," stated Lord Hakuto over the deafening howls of amusement. "You have had no instruction from anyone in the clan on how to perform any technique with the Gentle Fist. It is impossible for you to do it."

Hinata was now thoroughly insulted.

"I… I'm not making this up!" she insisted. "Kurama… Kurama and Usagi are both real, and my fox guardian _did_ teach me how to use the Gentle Fist! He t-taught me the basics on how to do the taijutsu, and he even showed me the advanced fighting jutsus that were developed with it!"

"Is that so?" said Lady Haruka, raising a skeptical brow at the young heiress. "Are you honestly telling us that you can do the Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms, the Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm, and the Rotation?"

Hinata bit her lower lip. The elders weren't going to like her answer, no matter how she presented it to them.

"Well… not exactly…"

"Well, what _exactly_ do you mean?"

The quiet girl involuntarily flinched. "I… I can do the Sixty Four Palms up to the Thirty Two Palms at the moment, Kurama n-never taught me how to do the Vacuum Palm, and because I had trouble performing the Rotation… I kind of changed it…"

Shocked silence ensued throughout the room.

"You… You did _what_ with the Rotation?" said Lord Hakuto, seething with rage.

"I had trouble learning it, so I figured I would redesign the technique to make it work better for me. I invented a whole new technique. The Protective Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms. It… It w-works as both a defensive _and_ offensive technique since I'm very flexible, and because I learned early on to have precise control over my chakra, I was able to channel it to form sharp, flexible blades with my hands. I use them by quickly moving my arms around m-me in a circular motion as fast as I can. They protect me and also cut up anything or anyone that happens to be in the nearby vicinity…"

"You _redesigned_ the Rotation?" reiterated Lady Haruka.

"I just… I just needed a way to be able to protect myself since I couldn't do the Rotation. And it's not the only jutsu I invented while I was away…"

" _What?!"_

"The idea for the other technique w-wasn't based on any other jutsu in our clan. It was just an idea that popped into my head and I thought it would help me. And it did! I call it the Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists."

"Twin Lion Fists?!" growled Lord Hakuto.

"I realized early on that I didn't have much p-power behind my hand thrusts whenever I tried to spar with… with the Gentle Fist, so I thought, 'Why not use my chakra to strengthen my attacks, but also try to drain my opponents chakra, too?' Basically, I change the shape of my chakra when I expel it from my hands, so instead of h-having it glow dully with my normal light blue chakra, I warp it to form that of two light blue, lion-shaped shrouds. They're quite destructive, and it has to be morphed in a precise way with an exact amount of chakra, otherwise they don't work at all."

There was a long pause after she was done explaining as the elders all shared unreadable looks.

"Lady Hinata," said another elder. "You knowingly tampered with one of our clan's most effective jutsus, and admitted to creating another one without the consent of us, the elders. Do you have anything to say for yourself upon this particular transgression?"

Hinata blinked. "Transgression?" she repeated. "What transgression? All I did was find a way to make sure I stayed alive while out on the battlefield. You cannot blame me for doing what I had to do in order to preserve my life."

"But Lady Hinata—"

"Would you like me to continue my story, or should I first give you a demonstration of my two original techniques?"

The elders were taken aback by Hinata's directness in her question, but then brushed it aside so as to whisper amongst themselves for a moment. Finally, they turned back to her.

"Your story can wait a moment. Please demonstrate these techniques now."

Hinata nodded, and then made the traditional hand sign to activate her bloodline limit.

"Byakugan!"

The veins around her eyes bulged outward, and everyone in the clan watched in anticipation as their heiress brought her hands together to form the ram hand sign. There was a brief pause as Hinata gathered her confidence, but then a determined look spread across her face.

"Protective Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms!"

Everyone from both sides of the clan gasped in awe when they saw Hinata's arms start spinning around her body at an almost unseen speed in the usual circular sphere as the thin, razor sharp blades of chakra emerged from the palms of her hands, creating the impenetrable shield. People were amazed. It was undoubtedly different from the Rotation, but it nonetheless looked very unique. Hinata had invented this? It was so… intriguing.

The elders didn't quite know what to make of this technique. They didn't like the fact that Hinata had redesigned the Rotation, but judging from the reactions of the rest of their fellow clansmen in the room, they were amazed by her original jutsu. The best way to put a stop to this was to prove to all of them that her jutsu was not as good as the one it was based off of.

"You there," called out Lord Hakuto to a ninja of the branch side clan, who jumped slightly upon being addressed out of the blue. "Throw some shuriken at Lady Hinata now. We must test this technique."

The branch man slowly nodded, and reached into his weapons pouch on his leg to pull out a number of small shuriken stars. He tossed them expertly at Hinata without a single word, obeying the instruction. Everyone expected the shurikens to be either blocked or to be able to penetrate the shield and lightly scratch the clan heiress, but neither of those things happened.

The shuriken stars were all sliced in half.

They hadn't been deflected or smashed.

They had all been sliced right down the middle.

The many bits of steel fell harmlessly to the wood paneled floor with small clinks, but Hinata was completely unharmed. She ended the jutsu without a single word, and then collected the pieces of the broken shurikens off the floor before approaching the branch ninja.

"I am sorry about your shuriken stars. I will p-pay to have them replaced," she told him kindly.

The branch man nodded with wide eyes as he slowly retrieved the bits of scrap metal from Hinata. He stared at the pieces for several seconds before politely stepping back to where he had been standing before Lord Hakuto had ordered him to test her jutsu.

Hinata smiled kindly at the branch member one last time, and then moved back to the center of the room to face the elders once again.

"Would you like me to demonstrate my other jutsu now?" she asked politely.

The elders stared at her for several moments in complete silence. They were still blown away by the fact that Hinata's chakra blades in the jutsu were powerful enough to cut steel in half without causing her to even break a sweat. Finally, Lady Haruka nodded.

"Yes, activate this other jutsu of yours."

Hinata nodded. She wordlessly concentrated her chakra into the palms of her hands once again, and felt the familiar rush of warmth in her hands as the chakra was expelled outwardly to form the great lion-shaped blue shrouds of her other original technique.

"Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists."

Ninjas in the clan immediately activated their bloodline limit to see this technique in greater detail. The way Hinata was making her chakra flow outward from her hands was astonishing. None of them doubted for a second that being struck with a traditional palm strike or even a punch to the jaw while that jutsu was in effect would cause serious damage.

Hanabi was staring in wonder as she watched her big sister perform this technique. Her other jutsu that was supposed to be a variant of the infamous Rotation was cool, but this other original one looked so beautiful to her eyes. She wanted to learn it!

"Mother! Father! Can Hinata teach me how to do her new jutsus?" she asked without thinking.

The elders heads immediately snapped around to glare at Hanabi, furious at the idea that the girl that they preferred to have as the next leader of the clan wanted to follow in her older sister's disgraceful footsteps, but before any of them could say anything to the small girl, Hiashi quickly spoke up.

"That will be a discussion for another time, Hanabi. Right now, your sister still needs to finish telling us her story."

The head of the clan's words made the elders begrudgingly nod in agreement, and they signaled for Hinata to cancel her jutsu and the use of her Byakugan and continue with her tale.

Hinata explained how after about two weeks in the training camp, that one night out of the blue, Naruto approached her and told her to go back home and send Neji in her place because he didn't want to see an innocent 'man' die. Before the elders could interrupt her again and demand to know why she didn't come home like she had been ordered to do by her commanding officer, she quickly explained her wild idea of wanting to be able to prove herself to everyone at camp who thought that 'Hiro' was a joke by being the first person to climb to the top of the pine pole using only the chakra in her feet to retrieve Naruto's special kunai.

Everyone listened intently as she told them how she spent the entire night popping soldier pill after soldier pill to keep replenishing her chakra reserves as she ran higher and higher up the pole. They were especially interested in how the rest of the men in the camp were amazed by her dedication when they found her still trying to be the one to get it when they awoke at daybreak the next morning. Her audience was then shocked when they learned how Hinata, being fatigued from sleep deprivation, physically spent from low chakra, and simply fed up with how the men in camp treated her on a daily basis, had all but yelled at her fellow shinobi to not intervene when they realized that she had been trying to get the kunai all night long.

The elders in particular were ready to blow a gasket when they heard about how she had attacked one of them in particular when he tried to stop her.

"You _punched_ the heir to the Aburame clan?!" shouted Lady Haruka in horror.

"I was stressed and not in my right mind at the time, I'll admit," Hinata argued. "I was facing the probability of being sent home in d-disgrace, and I was also angry that he and the others were all of the sudden showing concern for my well being when they had all been cruel to me since the day I arrived. I shouldn't have done it, but Shino nonetheless forgave me later on. He, Kiba, Choji, Lee, and Kankuro all ended up being astounded by the fact that I did manage to get the kunai at the end, as was Naruto and the other army leaders. We all became friends not too long after that incident."

"Still, we will have to send out a formal apology to the clans of those men, especially to the Aburame clan and Lord Kazekage in the Imperial City, considering that Kankuro is his eldest son," noted Lord Hakuto.

The other elders murmured words of agreement to his words, but Hinata was now really annoyed. The fact that her friends forgave her for that incident wasn't even being taken into account, and they didn't even seem to care at all that she had been the first ninja at the training camp to pass Naruto's test and retrieve his kunai at the top of the tall pine pole.

She ignored her feelings and continued her story. There was no point in telling everyone about the humiliating bath incident in the lake that she had endured when her friends walked in on her and decided to strip naked, too. Some things were better left unsaid. And there was no way in hell that she was going to reveal the private conversation between herself and Naruto when he told her about how he was treated by the general public now that it had been accidentally revealed that he and his mother Kushina were related to the Uzumaki clan. That was not her story to share with everyone. She skimmed over these details by simply saying that she eventually built up friendships with her small group of friends as well as Naruto and the other troop leaders, and that they eventually learned that their platoon was summoned to the front lines of the war in the Land of Iron.

Breezing over the details of the embarrassment she had endured from her fellow shinobi when they talked about the female race during the march up to the front lines was easy, but when she reached the part in her story about discovering the destroyed village, everyone in the clan, not just the elders, wanted to hear details. This was especially hard for Hinata, reliving the events that had occurred in the ruined village. She felt no shame at all when she started tearing up as she explained how she found the body of the little girl inside the shambles of what was once a house, omitting the part about discovering the dried blood on her thighs. There were children present, after all, Hanabi being a prime example. Everyone had the courtesy not to interrupt her when she gave details about finding the corpses in the snow of what was once the main division of the Allied Shinobi Forces, in particular the body of their acquaintance Lord Inoichi Yamanaka, and she even mentioned the funeral fire that had been constructed for all of the dead bodies. The elders had no comments at all when she admitted to bringing the bodies of Lord Inoichi and the little girl to the fire herself to lay them to rest, or of how she placed the little doll in the snow in the position of the memoirs Naruto had left for his late father and godfather. It was a good deed she had done, and even they could not find fault in her actions in the destroyed village.

Moving on to the battle in the snowy mountains, Hinata kept everyone on the edge of their seats as she described how she and the other men in the platoon fought hard against the Sound ninjas that had orchestrated the sneak attack. They were all amazed at how she described the fight, but jaws dropped all over the room when she went on to tell all of them about how she came up with the split second, crazy idea to set off an avalanche with an explosive tag to wipe out all the shinobi in the invading army. She even included in her tale that she had come face-to-face with Orochimaru for a few moments after she threw the kunai, and briefly mentioned the sword slash to the abdomen she had endured when he got pissed with her upon realizing what she had done to kill all the men in his army.

"You were injured?!" interrupted Hitomi, sounding horrified at the notion.

The elders shot the Hyuuga matriarch an annoyed look for interrupting the proceedings, but Hinata blushed and nodded.

"Y-Yes, Mother. The… The brunt of the attack was absorbed by Father's flak jacket and chainmail, but I was a little hurt in the end…"

"Are you all right?! Are you in pain right now?! Do you need to sit down?!"

"Lady Hitomi, please calm down. Lady Hinata appears to be fine," stated Lady Haruka exasperatedly. "In any event, we still need to continue with the—"

"I shall worry about my eldest daughter whenever I please!" snapped Hitomi, instantly silencing the irritable older woman. Within seconds, Hinata's mother had risen right out of her chair, and had crossed the room to engulf her indigo-haired daughter in a tight hug.

"My sweet girl! We all could have lost you and we wouldn't have even known it!"

"I'm okay, Mother, really," Hinata insisted. "I'm better now, I swear! No pain at all!"

"Thank goodness!"

"May we continue now, Lady Hitomi?" demanded Lord Hakuto. "As Lady Haruka was just saying, there is still much to discuss."

The Hyuuga matriarch shot a cold glare at the elder, but then turned to pat Hinata fondly on the cheek before turning around and returning to her seat beside the rest of her family.

Hinata was embarrassed to admit to everyone that her idea of setting off the raging avalanche caused her own friends in the army a great deal of stress when they realized that they too were in the way of the unstoppable storm of snow, but she nonetheless told them all about how they were forced to take shelter behind some tall rocks while she rode out the waves of ice and snow atop of Rin, and ended up saving Naruto's life in the process when he got swept away in the snowy vortex. Murmurs of surprise filled the room from various people when they learned this. The Hyuuga heiress had saved the life of the Namikaze heir and Captain of the Allied Shinobi Forces. It was an astonishing revelation.

It was at this point in the story that Hinata was forced to reveal to everyone that she had blacked out from the pain of her injury to her stomach, and when she came to around dawn the next day, the medic-nin in the platoon that had tended to her while she was unconscious had discovered the truth about her real gender, and had informed the leaders in the squad.

Cries of horror and outrage erupted from the elders.

"God damn it! I should have known it was too good to last!"

"We've been shamed! Our clan has been disgraced!"

"We'll be stripped of our ranks in nobility! The entire country will shun us!"

" _Silence!"_

A deafening silence resounded in the Great Hall as all heads turned toward Hiashi. He was glaring coldly at the elders, warning them not to say another word if they knew what was good for them. The elders begrudgingly stayed silent. They did not wish to anger the head of the clan any further.

As soon as Hiashi was positive that none of them would continue to act hysterical, he turned to face his eldest daughter again. "Please go on, Hinata. What happened after everyone found out the truth?" he asked.

"W-Well, the camp inspector Ebisu… he really wanted Naruto to invoke the death penalty. Everyone thought he would do it, even me… But Naruto dropped the k-kunai at the last moment…"

Everyone stared at the clan princess, not believing their own ears.

"Say that again?"

"Naruto… he said that because I saved his life, his debt to me was repaid. He simply ordered everyone to move out and they left me up there in the mountains…"

"They spared you?"

"Yes. They… They all just l-left me there… I stayed there in the snow until late afternoon, talking and crying with Kurama and Usagi, but by the time I found the will to get up and come back home again, I saw Orochimaru and his leading Generals. S-Somehow they all survived the avalanche, and they were marching down the mountain to the Imperial City, so… so I got back on Rin and rode after them…"

Lord Hakuto stared at her in disbelief. "You risked being executed by the leaders in the Imperial City should they discover that you impersonated a Hyuuga male ninja just to follow the invaders?"

"I was the only person in the entire country that knew they were all still alive! I couldn't just stand by and do nothing! I had to warn Naruto and the rest of troops in the platoon that they hadn't died and were going after the Kage's and the Honorable Families!" Hinata insisted.

More murmurs filled the room as everyone expressed their disbelief. Hinata had risked being either beheaded or hanged by going to the Imperial City as she did just to warn the men in the Allied Shinobi Forces that Orochimaru and his leading Generals were still alive. She had been undoubtedly fearless and brave.

Hinata eventually continued on, telling everyone in attendance of how her warning had been ignored by Naruto and the rest of the troops, and how she was forced to leave Rin behind at the city stables to travel through the city on foot to try and find someone else to help her in her endeavor to stop the snake traitor and the last members of the Sound army. Everyone was dismayed when she admitted that she couldn't find help in time before Orochimaru and his men attacked, and they took the Four Kage's, the Lady Regent, the Honorable Families, and the Lady Regent's bodyguards hostage. As the rest of the men in the Allied Shinobi Forces panicked and tried to get inside the palace using brute force, which was getting them nowhere at all, Hinata explained how she came up with a rather unorthodox plan to save the royals, and managed to get her friends and most of the platoon leaders to agree to help her out with it.

Her plan had worked in the end to the astonishment of everyone listening. The Honorable Families had been safely escorted out of the palace while the Four Kage's and the Mizukage Regent were immediately rescued by her fellow shinobi comrades, and in the meantime, she had tried to help Naruto stop Orochimaru. When Naruto had failed and Orochimaru realized that she was the one who had set off the avalanche that had killed all the men in his army, he had chased her through the palace with the intent of slicing her head right off her shoulders with his sword Kusanagi.

Everyone was on the edge of their seats at this point, especially when Hinata surprised them all once again as she explained how Usagi had somehow been able to make herself large for a few minutes and had consequently saved her life.

"Thank you so much for presenting her to me, Hanabi," Hinata said kindly as she paused in her tale to smile at her sweet little sister. "You were right all those months ago w-when you gave her to me. Rabbit spirits are very lucky! If it weren't for little Usagi, I wouldn't be standing here today. So thank you…"

Hanabi beamed happily when she heard this. The small girl had spent ages in the Hyuuga family shrine that fateful day of Hinata's appointment with Lady Anko to try and summon a little spirit. She had been ready to give up so many times that morning when her efforts brought forth no results, but her patience and love for her big sister had paid off in the end when she had at last persuaded the little bunny to come out of her ancestral tablet. She was happy to hear that the little rabbit spirit she had summoned for Hinata had protected her big sister while she fought against the evil snake traitor.

Hinata then went on to explain that she had been forced to try and get away from Orochimaru by climbing out of the blown out wall and onto the fallen pillar, where she had tried to jump upwards to the rooftop. She described how, to her great dismay, Orochimaru followed her up there, and how she had been forced to fight the snake summoner one-on-one in the epic climatic battle of the entire war.

No one dared to interrupt as she described the battle in great detail. She told them all about how she was forced to use every jutsu and skill she had been taught back at the training camp just to survive the encounter, and that she actually managed to go toe-to-toe with the evil man when using the clan's infamous taijutsu style of the Gentle Fist in combination with her two original Gentle Fist techniques. She explained how during one point in the duel she had used her original technique of the Protective Eight Trigrams to defend herself while at the same time cutting up the snakes Orochimaru had sent flying at her. She also mentioned how she had managed to land attacks on him while using her Twin Lion Fists, and then combined her second original jutsu with the Hyuuga clan's special technique of the Thirty Two Palms to cause further damage.

A few people listening attentively in the audience started to applaud her for her quick thinking of using her two unique jutsus in such a clever way, but seeing the elders scowl at them for interrupting quickly silenced them again.

Hinata then went on to explain that she had been severely injured and suffered nearly lethal poisoning when one of the snakes managed to bite her, and when she brought up how Orochimaru had dangled her over the edge of the Imperial Palace rooftop and stabbed her right in the stomach in the same area as where he had slashed at her back on the mountain, there were a few choked back screams and gasps of horror.

"The bastard _stabbed_ you with his sword?!" Tenten cried out in alarm.

The elders shot the brunette with cutesy panda bear-shaped buns an irritable look.

"Quiet, Lady Tenten!" snapped Lord Hakuto.

"And do mind your language!" added Lady Haruka.

Tenten shot both of them and the rest of the clan elders a glare of her own, but she felt Neji place his hand on her shoulder and stayed silent. She wasn't the only one at the table who had been shocked by what Hinata had told all of them. Hitomi looked horrified at the prospect and Hanabi had turned white, but Hiashi kept them from being like Tenten and causing another interruption. It would be a big mistake to antagonize the members of the council any further.

Hinata turned a tad bit red when she considered what had happened next. "Well… After Orochimaru s-stabbed me with his sword, I happened to look down at the balcony directly below me, and I got a wild idea. Before I could do it though, Orochimaru asked me why I decided to fight him at all when it was obvious I would not have won. I… I told him it was because I never go back on my word, because that's my ninja way, and t-then I grabbed hold of the purple rope belt on his waist and… and I threw myself backwards off the edge of the roof."

The room exploded.

Everyone that had been listening to her story — main family or branch family, young or old, man or woman — immediately started shouting their alarm and disbelief at what Hinata had just told them she had done. She had intentionally thrown herself off the edge of the palace rooftop to ensure that Orochimaru did not survive at the end of their fight. She had nearly killed herself! They were all shocked that she had gone to such lengths to make sure that Orochimaru did not win.

It took the elders several minutes to get everyone's attention and force them all to remain silent once again.

"Quiet!" ordered Lady Haruka, she and the other elders in attendance being forced to bang their fists on their table many times in order to emphasize their words. "Settle down! Settle down! There is obviously still more to the story we have yet to hear!"

The room gradually quieted down once more as people stopped talking, and all attention returned to the red-faced Hyuuga princess, who was wringing her hands a bit in front of her as she waited to continue with her story.

As soon as all was silent once more, Lord Hakuto nodded for her to go on, and Hinata hesitantly did so.

"I… I wasn't trying to kill myself when I dragged him down off the roof with me," she said shyly. "I had noticed that there were l-lanterns sticking out of the wall right by the balcony below me. As soon as I was positive that Orochimaru was free falling like I was, I… I kicked him away from me and tore off my red scarf which I was using in place of an obi at the time, and I latched it onto one of the lantern lampposts. My scarf t-tore right down the middle, but I did stop falling… for a few moments that is. The scarf finished tearing all the way through after a bit, but Naruto caught me before I hit the ground. I… I blacked out after that. I woke up a few weeks later in a recovery room in the palace."

People murmured in amazement at Hinata's quick thinking and apparent narrow escape from death, but the elders didn't want to admit that they too were impressed. They also didn't like the fact that Hinata's story was gaining support from the other members in the clan. If they wanted to continue with their plan to use Hinata's story as proof that she was unfit to be the clan heiress anymore, they had to discredit her somehow.

Lady Haruka was the first one among them to realize the most obvious thing that had occurred in the story judging by what Hinata had just told them, and a knowing smirk spread across her lips for a moment before she forcefully changed her expression into that of an angry scowl.

"Hold on a moment, Lady Hinata," she called out, forcing Hinata to halt in the middle of her tale. "You just said that you were forced to tear off your obi in order to latch onto the lamppost. Are you telling us that you _knowingly_ let your kimono hang loose in front of all the people in the Imperial City?"

Hinata turned beet red with humiliation as the room fell utterly silent. Now that the elder had mentioned it, everyone in attendance realized that in this instance, the woman was correct. The clan heiress, the shyest and most modest person in the entire Hyuuga clan, had knowingly displayed her body to the entire population of the Imperial City? It was shocking, and it couldn't be denied that it was shameful, too. This was definitely something that the clan as a whole could agree was an appalling act.

Hinata did not speak for several moments. She was far too embarrassed to say anything at first, but then she realized something, and anger suddenly filled her veins. Why was she suddenly so embarrassed about what they had called her out on? No one in the entire Imperial City had thought that what she had done to try and stop herself from falling was something she should be ashamed of herself for. True, untying her scarf that had acted as an obi for her borrowed kimono was not something that was generally done while out in public, but no one had condemned her for doing it. They had applauded her for trying to save herself! The elders were the ones who were making a big deal out of this, not the general public in the Imperial City!

"Lady Hinata? Do you not have anything to say for yourself?" demanded Lord Hakuto.

The shy girl clenched her fists up into tight balls as she willed herself to speak. "It's true that happened, but… but is that really the only thing that any of y-you bothered to focus on?" she said in a quiet, angry manner.

The elders all stared at her, not expecting that tone from the girl they had known before she had run off to join the army in secret. "Come again?" said Lady Haruka.

"I… I'll admit that what I did was very unladylike, but I did what I had to do to survive! Not that any of you sitting up there on your high chairs care one way or another whether or not I live or die!"

Hinata's anger-fueled words brought a hush over the room, and everyone stared at the girl in disbelief at what she had just said. Her family sitting in the corner was especially taken aback. And every single one of the elders suddenly froze in place when they heard her. They had gathered that Hinata had apparently gained more self-confidence in herself during her time away, but they never imagined that she would not only talk back to any of them as she was right now, but that she actually appeared to be on the verge of shouting.

The Hinata they knew before she turned herself into the world's first female ninja would never shout.

She would meekly bow her head and quietly mumble an apology for poorly reflecting the Hyuuga clan with her disgraceful action.

Who was this girl standing in front of them?

They had to force her back into her old fears now before she gained even more self-confidence.

"L-Lady Hinata, you are forgetting your place in this meeting!" said Lord Hakuto rather quickly. "You have dishonored the clan by joining the army in Lord Hiashi's place and we on the Hyuuga council have the right to know if—"

"Dishonor?! You wish to talk about dishonor?!" Hinata interrupted, her eyes flashing icy cold at the older male. "You think I _dishonored_ our clan by doing what I did to save my father's life?! The Four Kage's and the Lady Regent declared me a hero! They… They actually _bowed_ to me in front of the entire city! They inspired the entire population in the Imperial City to bow to me, and they presented me with Orochimaru's sword and the medal I gave to my father when I arrived so that all of you would know that I brought the greatest honor ever to the Hyuuga clan! Is that sufficient enough for all of you, or should I have demanded that the five of them come here themselves to tell you this in person?!"

The elders all stared at her in disbelief, but Hinata did not care that she had shocked them. She was too angry. She had spent her entire life trying to be the perfect daughter and heiress to her family so she could bring great honor for the clan, but because the elders had always looked down their noses at all her past failings, she had lived in fear of making a single mistake.

And even now, despite the fact that she had brought back the greatest tokens of honor that could ever be bestowed upon a ninja by the Five Kage's, it didn't matter at all. They wanted to twist her story to make it sound as though she was nothing more than a disgraceful girl. They wanted her out of the clan so badly, so that they could have Hanabi as the new heiress. Well, if that was how they were going to play it and she was going to be kicked out of the clan regardless of whatever she said, then two could play at that game! She was not the same girl she was when she left the compound so many months ago and was not about to just stand there and take their verbal abuse. She had learned self-respect and how to be confident in herself while away. She was done being treated second-rate by the men and women sitting at the table in front of her.

"I… I know you all hate me," she said abruptly, surprising those listening on the sidelines but she paid no attention to any of them. "I know for a _fact_ that you wish that I died while I was gone, but I matter in the end! I… I am not worthless!"

The council of elders sitting before her either grew very tense or turned sweltering red with suppressed rage.

" _Lady Hinata!"_ said Lady Haruka sharply. "You… You have obviously lost your mind for you to speak to us this way! We are the ones who will decide if—"

"—if I am still worthy to be the heiress to the clan," finished Hinata, her fists now starting to shake with fury. "You… You must think I am really stupid, don't you? This whole trial has been a waste of time. I am sure you all decided long before I even arrived that you would brand me with the seal of servitude of the branch family and throw me out of the clan no matter what I told you about my deeds in the war. It doesn't matter to any of you that the rest of the world thinks of me highly now. To all of you, I will always be considered worthless, the failed heiress of the Hyuuga clan."

"Lady Hinata—"

"I am _not_ done talking yet, Lord Hakuto! I am _finished_ with letting all of you talk over me! For once in your lives, you are going to stop belittling me like you and Lady Haruka did the morning of my matchmaking appointment with Lady Anko and you will _listen_ to what I have to say!"

Hinata's whole body was shaking at this point with pure anger, but she was not to be stopped for more than half a second. All of her life, she had lived in fear of talking back to the people before her. It was high time she told them exactly what she thought. She was going to be kicked out of the clan regardless of whatever she said or did, so what did she have to lose?

"I… I've spent my entire life trying to be the perfect heiress you _demanded_ I be! I listened attentively in my lessons! I was kind! I was polite! I was… I was just a little girl! A little girl that was trying to do everything I could to make you and my family proud! But it wasn't enough… It was _never_ enough! I was shy and I stuttered, so in your eyes that made me an _embarrassment!_ I was quiet, so that meant I was a _failure_ at social skills! I was clumsy at times, so that automatically meant that I would _never_ be considered graceful… I was just someone you all wished would disappear forever, because with me gone, the clan would finally be rid of its one imperfect flaw. The Hyuuga clan can't afford to have a misfit for its heiress…"

The silence that followed in the entire Great Hall was so intense, it could be considered deadly. Everyone just stared at their princess with shocked expressions as they watched her pant heavily from her long monologue. Hinata… Was this how she honestly felt? Did she really struggle that hard on a daily basis to try and please the elders in the past?

Before anyone could question her though, she went on, but this time her words did not come across as angry. They were filled with resolve and determination.

"I'm sure that it doesn't matter to any of you on the council, but the ladies in the Kage royalty were actually _inspired_ by me! They invited me to try and become an activist for women's rights by supporting the law they intend to try and get passed for women to legally become kunoichi, or female ninjas just like me… I initially told them that I would have to discuss this matter with all of you and my father first before I came to a decision of whether or not to help them, but I realize now that you will immediately forbid me from adding my support to their idea, even though it really should be considered an _honor_ to be invited to help the Lady Regent, the royal princesses, and the other highborn ladies with anything, let alone with passing a law! If you hate me, that's fine, but if you intend to kick me out of this clan, there's nothing stopping me from sending a messenger hawk back to the Imperial City telling the ladies in the Kage royalty that I will be happy to give them my full support. Actually, why am I still standing here talking? We all know what the outcome of this meeting is. I will take my leave now to go and send that message to the Imperial City. I will be back later to retrieve Rin, my animal spirit friends that I know you don't believe exist, my personal belongings, and to say a final goodbye to my family."

And without another word, Hinata politely bowed to the council members sitting there in front of her with their mouths agape, and then gracefully spun around on her heel before striding purposefully to the doors leading out to the hall. Her eyes were burning with unshed tears, but she refused to let them fall. She would not give the clan leaders the satisfaction of knowing that she was hurting inside. She had finally stood up to them, and she would not let them think for even a second that she regretted telling them exactly how she felt. She would leave the clan with grace and dignity. She would not be remembered as the girl who left with tears in her eyes.

Her hand stretched out to turn the doorknob and exit the grand room, but that was when a new voice suddenly cut through the frozen silence.

"Hinata. Please stay."

Hinata's hand jolted when she heard the voice, and her hand paused in midair halfway to the door handle.

Had this been a member of the Hyuuga council that had demanded her to stay, Hinata would have left without so much as looking back over her shoulder at him or her.

But it wasn't an elder that had asked her to stay.

It was her father.

With a dry mouth, Hinata slowly turned to look back over her shoulder. Hiashi was grabbing hold of his crutch and rising to his feet despite the looks of worry he was getting from the rest of their family. But he was not looking at her however.

His stone cold gaze was locked solely on the clan elders.

Lord Hakuto seemed annoyed by his unexpected actions. "Lord Hiashi, Lady Hinata has basically just said that she has no qualms with being replaced as the clan heiress. There is no reason to look so—"

"Lord Hakuto," Hiashi interrupted, appearing to be unfazed by Lord Hakuto's words, "you and Lady Haruka are as of this moment stripped of your duties as clan elders."

It was so quiet in the room, one could hear a pin drop.

Hinata's anger all but vanished. She lost all concept of reality for several moments as she completely turned around to stare at her father. Why did Hiashi suddenly say that completely out of the blue? Her father had never once stood up for her against the clan elders in the past. Why wasn't he on their side and belittling her for what she had done in the war? She knew he was happy that she was home again, but she had come back home half expecting him to be just as worried about the honor of the clan as they were. Just what was going on?

Lord Hakuto and Lady Haruka looked just as shocked as she was.

"Lord Hiashi!" exclaimed the lady elder. "I… I beg your pardon, but Lord Hakuto and I—"

"Did you two not hear what I just said?" Hiashi coolly interrupted, his eyes becoming stonier with each passing second. "Both of you are hereby no longer part of the Hyuuga council. Remove yourselves from the High Table at once."

Lord Hakuto's jaw grew rigid as he fought to keep his temper in check and speak civilly to the head of the clan. "Lady Haruka and I have been faithful members of the high council for nearly twenty years now, helping to ensure that the Hyuuga clan maintains its high reputation in both nobility and within the ninja world. Don't you think you owe us an explanation as to why we are so rudely being dismissed from our posts?"

Hiashi's brows furrowed. "According to Hinata, you and Lady Haruka have made it your mission to intimidate my eldest daughter on more than one occasion, and even admitted that both of you all but threatened her several months back when she failed in her appointment at the local matchmaker."

Lady Haruka's entire face puffed red with anger. "Lord Hiashi! We were only looking after the honor of the entire clan! An heiress that acts like an embarrassment reflects poorly on both you and—"

" _Embarrassment?!"_

Hiashi's booming, rage-filled shout echoed loudly throughout the Great Hall, and many people in the room flinched away from him in fear. Hinata herself was somewhat afraid. She thought she had seen her father angry before that night when she had argued with him about his decision to go in Neji's place and he had yelled at her. That was nothing compared to how he looked right now. That night, Hiashi had only shouted at her for a moment when he lost his patience and just had a small scowl on his face. He did _not_ subconsciously activate his Byakugan and glare with nothing short of hate on his face as the most defiant look she could ever imagine spread rapidly across his features.

She wasn't the only person there that was shocked to see him looking like this.

All the members of her small family were either frozen in disbelief or had momentarily forgotten their manners and were watching him with their jaws agape. The elders in particular looked very, very afraid. It was obvious that in the many years that Hiashi had been the head of the entire clan, he had never once lost his patience with the Hyuuga council as he was right now.

Lady Haruka fought to keep a level expression on her face, but she was failing miserably. She looked as though she had somehow swallowed a lemon. "Lord Hiashi, please try to stay calm. I was simply—"

"—you were simply stating what you honestly think of my daughter," stated Hiashi, who appeared to be growing angrier by the second. "Do you and Lord Hakuto speak this way to Hinata when she is not around me or the rest of our family?!"

Lord Hakuto was undoubtedly angry, but as this was Hiashi he was speaking to and not Hinata in private, he had to at least attempt to seem cordial. "Lord Hiashi, as Lady Haruka just said, we are only concerned about the honor of the clan. In the past, Lady Hinata has not acted the way a good young lady should. Can you blame us for trying to… how shall I say… _encourage_ her to try and do better in her role in this clan?"

Hiashi's face turned so red, Hinata was amazed he hadn't exploded.

"The greatest gift and honor," he said with such a finality in his voice that everyone in the clan listened with rapt attention, "is having Hinata for a daughter. Anyone who says otherwise has no place being part of the decision making of this family. Lord Hakuto, if you and Lady Haruka do not leave those spots at the High Table in the next ten seconds, you will both be thrown out of this clan!"

The two adults were undoubtedly furious that they had been stripped of their ranks as clan elders, but there was nothing they could do. Hiashi was the head of the clan after all. His final word was the law, even more than theirs was. With as much dignity as they could muster, Lord Hakuto and Lady Haruka silently rose from their chairs, and walked soundlessly to the side of the room to stand amongst members of the main branch that had been watching from the sidelines. Now that they were no longer elders, they were no better than any other member of the main family and truly held no weight in the long run of the clan. At least Hiashi hadn't ordered that they be branded with the seal of servitude for the side branch of the clan. They would have both died of shame if he had demanded that that be done to them.

Hinata barely paid them any attention. Her attention was fixed firmly on her father. He had defended her against the elders… The thought couldn't process in her head. He had stood up to them for her, but what was even more amazing to the generally shy girl was that her father had told the elders that despite her many faults, the only thing that mattered to him in regards to honor was that he was lucky enough to have her as his child. It didn't matter to him that she had disgraced him and the rest of the clan all those months ago when she failed with Lady Anko, or that she had embarrassed him later that same day when she tried to convince Ebisu not to give the draft notice to him when he stepped forward in Neji's place to be the Hyuuga representative in the war. He might have yelled at her later that night at dinner when she argued with him for wanting to happily die on what could be considered a suicidal journey, but at the end of the day, none of that mattered to Hiashi anymore.

All that mattered to him was that she was his daughter.

He was actually proud of her.

She thought she might cry from the very thought.

There were so many things that she wanted to say to her father in regards to what he had just said and done for her, but before she could so much as begin sorting out her reeling thoughts, Hiashi was already turning to look back at the remaining elders sitting at the High Table.

"Which of you are the next ones in charge after Lord Hakuto and Lady Haruka?" he asked, his voice clearly announcing that he was the one who held the most authority in the clan at the end of the day.

The elders shuddered from hearing his echoing words, but then two hands slowly rose up.

"I am the next eldest male on the council after Lord Hakuto, Lord Hiashi," claimed a man by the name of Hideki.

"And I am the eldest female after Lady Haruka," said a woman called Hotaru.

Hiashi nodded in response. "Then as the two eldest leaders among the Hyuuga council, what do you two think in regards to my daughter's story?"

Lord Hideki and Lady Hotaru were both silent for a time as they considered everything they had heard in Hinata's tale of her grand adventure away from the clan, and then they whispered quietly together in private for a few moments before softly asking the elders sitting around them for their opinions. Lord Hakuto and Lady Haruka had never really asked the other elders for their opinions when they had been in charge. They had simply made decisions on their own and then demanded that the rest of them simply follow along with what they decided upon. It was definitely a nice change to see all the elders engaged in the decision-making for once.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lord Hideki and Lady Hotaru finally turned back to look at Hiashi.

"We on the council have come to the decision that although Lady Hinata acted foolishly by choosing to break the law in order to take your place in the war, Lord Hiashi, we believe that she did all she could to represent the standards of the Hyuuga clan while she was away," Lady Hotaru explained. "She without a doubt was very brave during her time in the war and saved the lives of thousands with her deeds, not to mention that the ladies on the Kage royalty are now looking to her as a role model. All of us on the clan council don't think any punishment should be necessary."

"That being said, we should bring up that we are however… _concerned_ about her mental health," said Lord Hideki rather cautiously. "She claims that she had a Hyuuga guardian spirit watching over her ever since she left four months ago, and yet there was no sign of this so-called orange nine-tailed fox when she arrived. Forgive us for saying so, Lord Hiashi, but you have to look at this one particular point from our perspective and see why we are reluctant to believe her about this."

Hiashi's stern expression did not once leave his face, but he did nod at their words. Whether he liked it or not, Lord Hideki, Lady Hotaru, and the rest of the elders did bring up a valid point. Where was this guardian spirit that Hinata claimed to have watched over her since she left the safety of the estate to run away to the ninja training camp?

He turned to look back over at Hinata, who quickly stood up even straighter when she realized her father was focusing his attention on her. "Hinata, is there any way you can bring this talking orange fox here for everyone to see? We would all like to meet him and the rabbit spirit companion you mentioned that Hanabi gifted you with a few months back."

Hinata blinked, but then slowly nodded in reply. "I… I do not know if they are both done with their own meeting with the ancestors in the family shrine, but I shall go and see. I will return in a moment."

And without another word, she respectfully bowed to both her father and the elders sitting at the High Table, and then quickly turned and hurried out of the room to go and find Kurama and Usagi.

* * *

Kurama and Usagi had a hell of a time trying to stealthily make their way to the family shrine in the clan gardens. Almost immediately after they had snuck inside the main gate ahead of their human mistress and entered the courtyard, the main doors that led into the grand mansion burst open, and just about every member in the Hyuuga clan ran right outside in order to greet Hinata when she finally walked inside. Not wanting to be seen by any humans other than Hinata, the kind little white bunny and the foul-mouth orange fox were forced to take cover in a series of bushes to avoid being seen.

As Hinata finally walked inside the courtyard and everyone's attention was focused on her, the Hyuuga clan guardian and the little spirit companion did their best to move as carefully and as silently as possible through the foliage to leave the gathering without drawing any attention. While there was nothing wrong with either of them being seen by the humans here as they were all part of the Hyuuga clan, they had reached a rare agreement with each other that it was best to just get to the temple and speak to the ancestors first and foremost. Usagi had technically not done anything wrong at all in the past few months other than accidentally ruining Hinata's appointment with Lady Anko and then choosing to not return to her ancestral tablet in the shrine afterwards. Other than a harsh scolding from the ancient ghosts, she would probably be okay. Kurama, on the other hand, had destroyed the guardian statue for the Ten-Tailed Tree spirit and then left the shrine to become Hinata's guardian on her journey without Lady Kaguya and the rest of the ancestor's consent. He could very well be facing a harsher punishment.

Kurama huffed when he and Usagi finally managed to sneak away from the great welcome home party and silently slipped around the back of the estate to reach the clan gardens. "Geez! I knew the stupid woman was a war hero now, but was it necessary for every god damn member of this clan to come and greet her like that? I'm sure I'm going to be shaking leaves out of my fur for at least a week!"

Usagi twitched her little pink nose cutely in amusement and hopped up and down on top of the fox's furry head.

Kurama growled and swatted at her with one of his many long tails. "Damn it, Rabbit! Why must you always sit up there when you need a lift?! It's annoying having you sit on my head!"

The little white rabbit only squeaked in return before hopping a bit more.

The fox growled again, but otherwise ignored the little bunny as he trotted through the garden. The faster he got to the small temple, the faster he could rid himself of this little rabbit pest.

As they went deeper into the gardens, they passed by the spot where the stone statue of the Ten-Tailed Tree had once stood. There was nothing in the spot now, not even the crumbled bits of rock and stone that had been piled up after Kurama had accidentally destroyed it. It was understandable that it was all gone, though. They had been away for four months. It was obvious that someone from the branch side of the clan had been ordered to clear away all the rubble from the broken statue. The gods only knew what the humans in the Hyuuga clan must have thought when they discovered that the ominous statue of the tree with ten stone branches had been destroyed over night. Maybe they thought lightning hit it in the storm that had occurred that same night or something along those lines…

Kurama was pleased that the damned statue was gone. Even before Hinata had run off to join the war and he had been ordered to awaken the overgrown weed, he had never liked the stupid tree creature. Even though destroying the sprout-like spirit had been an accident, he couldn't say that he regretted what had happened, not unless Lady Kaguya and the rest of the clan ancestors kicked him out of the temple that was. It was unlikely that would happen, though. He had been the one to guide Hinata into being a celebrated war hero and the world's first official kunoichi, a female ninja. She had brought great honor to the Hyuuga clan. If that wasn't enough to earn him back his former job of being an official guardian of the clan or at least earn him his old fearsome form and powers back, he didn't know what was. The fox couldn't wait to show those old ghosts in the clan tablets that he had done what all of them had deemed to be all but impossible for the shy and gentle heiress to the clan.

Together, Kurama and Usagi trotted and hopped up the stone steps leading up to the small shrine, and then entered the oriental, circular structure. The ancient ancestral plaques engraved with all the names of the deceased Hyuuga clansmen had obviously been cleaned the night before and were all shining and sparkling in the morning sunshine streaming into the little temple. A thin trail of smoke was weaving about lazily in the air from a stick of incense burning strongly in the incense holder hanging in the ceiling… Kurama's old incense holder, to be exact, but to the fox's surprise, the holder was empty. Despite being gone for several months now, it appeared as though the ancestors hadn't given away his position of being the family awakener to another spirit in the shrine.

Usagi also looked up, and upon seeing the empty post, she made a quick comment with a timely bleat. Kurama merely shook his head at her question and chuckled. "Tch, the damn ghosts couldn't get rid of it. For one, they're ghosts, and two, someone from the compound would have noticed if the entire incense holder went missing."

Usagi blinked at his words, but otherwise said nothing. Even though she wasn't overly fond of the fox spirit's foul tongue, in this instance he was correct. Members of the branch family came into the shrine to polish the tablets every day. Someone for sure would have suspected that something fishy was going on if the incense holder disappeared.

"Well, might as well get this show over with," Kurama grumbled. Before Usagi could squeak out a question of what he was planning to do, the fox leapt up on top of one of the memorial stones, and used it as a stepping stone to hop up onto the bell. Without warning, he banged one of his many tails against the bottom of the holder, making the familiar clanging sound to make the ancestors awaken once again before hopping back down to the ground to stand beside the little white rabbit.

Within seconds, great wisps of blue chakra swirled about in the air as they materialized from the various ancestral tablets, each one of the engraved stones glowing brightly as the ancestors reemerged from them once again. As ghostly apparitions took up the forms of how they had looked while they had still been alive, Kurama tried to ignore the bead of sweat starting to run down his temple. He would gladly relive the past four months of the war and deal with keeping Hinata's secret about her true gender all over again before he admitted to himself that he was the tiniest bit worried about what the ancestors might decide when it came to him.

Lady Kaguya waited until all the ancestors were fully awake before addressing the fox sitting on the floor of the shrine right in front of her floating feet. "Kurama," she said, "you have returned."

The arrogant fox cheekily grinned at the Hyuuga clan founder. "What's the matter, Kaguya? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you aren't happy that I'm back."

Lady Kaguya sighed. "Well… I won't deny that meetings between myself and the rest of the ancestors have been less hectic with you gone…" she muttered.

Kurama dropped the cheekiness and shot the ghostly woman a quick glare. "Is that the thanks I get for turning the stupid clan heiress into a decorated war hero?"

His words earned him a kick upside the head from tiny Usagi, as she would not stand by and let him call Hinata stupid and do nothing, but the other apparitions all muttered anxiously amongst themselves.

"Yes, we have heard all about that," said the spirit of Hinata's late uncle Hizashi as he floated forward to get a better look at the orange nine-tailed fox and the small white rabbit. "We are all amazed by my young niece's grand adventure."

"She has brought great honor for our family! I am certain that she will be considered a legend and will go down in history!" chimed a grandmother rather enthusiastically. "She is truly a special young girl! I can't believe all the rest of you wished her ill!"

The accused ancestors fidgeted uncomfortably when they heard her truthful words. None of them had believed that Hinata would bring honor for the clan during her time in the war. They had all automatically assumed that her true gender would be discovered within minutes of her arrival at the training camp and the entire Hyuuga clan would be disgraced. They naturally felt ashamed of themselves for not having any faith in their descendant.

Lady Kaguya maintained her usual strict composure. "I'll admit that we were all perhaps mistaken to have wanted to drag Hinata back, but that does not excuse the fact that you disobeyed our orders and went after the girl in the Ten-Tailed Tree's place, Kurama. Excusing the fact that everything turned out all right for Hinata in the end, do you have anything to say for yourself for defying us? Or for turning him into a pile of rubble?" she demanded.

The orange fox huffed indignantly. "Easy, your royal highness!" he snapped. "My going after the crazy girl was to make sure she even had a guardian at all! It sure as hell is _not_ my fault that that damned tree spirit was being stubborn!"

"Stubborn?" called out a cousin curiously. "What do you mean by stubborn?"

"The god damned weed didn't wake up when I banged the stupid gong! I did my job, it's not my fault if the sprout didn't want to do his!"

All the ancestors, including Lady Kaguya, exchanged looks of surprise when they heard this. Even though Kurama was arrogant and a bit of a pain in the neck, he had done his job properly for many years now. The fact that the ten-tails didn't wake up when he asked him to was an unexpected twist, and it was definitely worrying.

"Are you telling us the truth?" asked Lady Kaguya after a momentary silence. "Did the Ten-Tailed Tree really refuse to awaken?"

Kurama scoffed. "Ask the rabbit if you don't believe me. What reason does she have to lie?"

All the ghostly heads turned to look at the small little spirit sitting beside the fox. Usagi squeaked as she reiterated that for once, Kurama was telling the truth. The tree spirit really didn't wake up when the fox rang the gong.

More muttering resumed amongst the ancestors as they mused over Kurama and Usagi's words. Finally Lady Kaguya spoke. "Well, I can't say that I am pleased that you decided on a whim to make yourself Lady Hinata's guardian without even consulting with the rest of us first, but—"

"Why the hell would I have consulted with you, Kaguya? We both know that you wouldn't have sent me anyway. You would have yelled at me for accidentally destroying the ten-tails statue, and then would have ordered me to wake up another of my tailed brethren."

It took all the willpower Lady Kaguya possessed to not lose her temper. "I see that your time away hasn't changed your attitude in the slightest," she said as civilly as possible. "You still hate us and everyone in clan…"

"Well… I don't know if I'd say that anymore…"

Everyone, including Usagi, blinked twice when they heard those words, and they stared at Kurama in disbelief.

"Say that again?" Lady Kaguya demanded.

Kurama shrugged. "You were right that I still don't like any of you, considering you sealed away my powers and transformed me into this ridiculous child-like fox form, but as for hating all of the humans still alive in the clan… I'd be lying if I said that Hinata has more than earned my trust and respect."

He now had Lady Kaguya's full and undivided attention, considering that he had finally addressed Hinata by her real name. "Go on," she said at once. "Tell us exactly what you think of Hinata."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "She's a shy girl, that woman, and far too quiet. Her words come out as nervous stammering half the time and she's a bit of an idiot… but she's got spunk in her, let me tell you! Just how many other girls did any of you know when you were alive that had the smart idea to start an avalanche in order to stop an army of over a thousand ninjas? Plus, she was the one person who was able to take down Orochimaru. If that doesn't earn someone respect, then nothing will. She's definitely got more self-confidence in herself now than she did when she initially left home a few months ago."

There was a long pause as Lady Kaguya stared down at him with an unreadable expression on her face. Kurama honestly had no idea what could be going on in her mind. If she was going to kick him out of the temple, she should just get it over and done with. He would much rather be antagonizing that white horse of Hinata's or trying to bite one of the rabbit's white floppy ears.

At last, Lady Kaguya seemed to reach a decision, and to Kurama's surprise, she actually smiled at him.

"Then it appears you have finally learnt your lesson and proven your worth," she said with a surprisingly cheerful smile.

Both Kurama and Usagi had to blink twice to make sure they heard her correctly.

"What?" said Kurama, trying to sound nonchalant, but unable to deny to himself that a feeling of hope was surging up into his chest. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?

"Do not misunderstand me, Kurama. You undoubtedly acted rashly and selfishly when you first decided to chase Hinata and become her replacement guardian, but you did manage to not only guide her into being a bolder person and a celebrated hero, but in the process of doing so, you finally learned the lesson I wanted you to understand when I sealed away your true form and half of your powers in the first place."

"What lesson was that?"

"Respect for humanity. By coming to care for Hinata, you finally learned how to be considerate of the human race, and you even proved your worth to the clan by helping her to fulfill her destiny as the world's first kunoichi."

An eager grin spread across Kurama's face upon hearing her words. "Then does that mean you're finally going to restore me to my former self and make me a guardian again?"

Lady Kaguya nodded. "You are as of this moment officially a guardian to the Hyuuga clan again, Kurama. Just as soon as I do this."

The spirit of the clan founder brought her hands together to form a hand sign, and then seconds later, Kurama felt a tingle spread through his body. He barely had enough time to look over at his reflection in one of the shiny memorial plaques surrounding him before his transformation took place. He watched in delight as his body grew in size until he looked like an adult fox rather than a baby. His fangs and claws sharpened themselves to a point, resembling that of razor-sharp knives. He felt his old powers flow through him once again as the tattooed kanji symbol for the word 'seal' on his back faded away completely. He was his true form once again. He was no longer stuck as a chibi-sized version of himself. If he wanted to, he could become twice as large as the entire Hyuuga compound without even breaking a sweat, and with the seal off his back, he could make a Tailed-Beast Ball that could easily obliterate this entire village without so much as batting an eye. Oh, how good it felt to be his old self again!

The fox couldn't stop himself from whooping in excitement. "Oh, hell yeah! This is awesome! I'm back to my old self again!" he cheered.

Lady Kaguya cringed. "Please keep your volume at a respectable level, Kurama. The last thing any of us want is to catch the attention of the living clan members in the compound."

Kurama scoffed. "They're all doting over Hinata's epic return right now, so don't worry. And besides, I deserve a minute to celebrate! I've been waiting generations for this moment!"

"Well, keep in mind that these benefits can very well be taken away again!" Lady Kaguya warned. "The honor of being a clan guardian is a privilege, and not something to be taken lightly! Should you abuse this position like you did in the past, I will have no qualms whatsoever in demoting your status in this shrine and sealing away your powers again! Is that clear?"

"Yeah, sure," Kurama said with an exaggerated eye roll. "I'll try to be politer from now on if that's what you're asking, but I ain't making any promises…"

Lady Kaguya sighed, but otherwise didn't comment further. It was unlikely that the nine-tailed fox would ever learn manners, but at least he promised to try to be nicer from now on. That was more than she had ever dared to wish for in the past.

With a slight shake of her head at the fox's antics, the wise ancestor then focused her attention onto little Usagi still sitting patiently at Kurama's side. "And now, little rabbit. There is the question as to how we should reward you," she mused.

Usagi squeaked a bit in surprise, not having once thought that the clan ancestors would wish to award her for her role in Hinata's quest to restore her honor for the clan.

Even Kurama raised a brow. "You plan to reward the rabbit, too?" he asked.

"Of course we should reward her!" cried out an elderly grandmother. "This little rabbit is just as responsible for helping Hinata go down in history as you are, Kurama!"

"Indeed she is," agreed Lady Kaguya. The clan founder was silent for a few moments as she considered what to bestow on the little spirit companion that would be sufficient enough to count as a reward for her part in helping Hinata, but then her eyes fell upon the empty incense holder hanging from the ceiling, and she smiled in delight. "Well, with Kurama restored to his old position as a clan guardian, we will need a new family awakener for the shrine. Would you be willing to be the new bell ringer, little rabbit?"

Usagi hopped up and down excitedly before happily bleating out her approval. All her life, she never thought she would actually amount to being someone mildly important in the Hyuuga shrine. As a spirit companion, her first and foremost job was to be a good companion to her summoner or mistress, and she quite liked her role very much because she got to meet Hanabi and Hinata. But to be the family awakener in the clan temple? That was more than a dream come true for the cute little bunny. Words couldn't even begin to express how happy she was right now.

"Wonderful, then all that's left to do is for both of you to turn yourselves into your statues and—"

"K-Kurama? Usagi? Are you both up there in the shrine?"

All conversation in the temple came to an abrupt halt. Hinata was making her way through the garden, heading straight for the stone steps that led up to the small temple. The ancestors were immediately sent into a frenzy. They were not supposed to be seen by their human descendants. They all had to disappear now, before Hinata caught a glimpse of them.

Lady Kaguya immediately turned to look down at the fox and rabbit standing before her on the floor of the shrine. "There's no time before she comes up here, so I'll just say this quickly. Welcome home, Kurama, little Usagi. You both went above and beyond mine and the other ancestor's expectations. Be sure to turn yourselves into your appropriate statues as soon as you've concluded your business with the clan heiress."

And with that having been said, she and the other apparitions vanished with swirls of bright blue chakra, leaving no trace that they had ever been there.

They disappeared in the nick of time, too, because less than a moment later, Hinata finished climbing up the last of the stone steps and spied both of her two little spirit friends standing alone in the exact center of the clan shrine.

"Ah, there you two are. I knew I'd find you both— wait, what happened to you, Kurama?!" Hinata gasped, taking in the new appearance of Kurama for the first time when he and Usagi fully turned around to face her. "You look… more adult now! Very different!"

The fox laughed. "Well, I should hope I do! This is how I generally look when my powers and true form aren't sealed away."

Hinata blinked at this new information, but then she smiled happily. "Oh, so my ancestors r-restored you to your former self?"

"You bet, Woman! They even made me a clan guardian again, and the rabbit here now has my old job as the family awakener."

"Oh, congratulations, Usagi!"

Usagi bleated out a happy thank you in reply.

"I have to say, I'm surprised to see you here so soon," Kurama commented. "I would have thought that you'd be spending every minute with your family right now."

Upon hearing his words, Hinata's expression turned a tad bit sheepish. "That's… That's actually part of the r-reason why I'm here right now. The clan elders are demanding to meet both of you."

Her words brought a definite pause to both animals, and they stared at her in disbelief.

"Say that again, Woman?"

Hinata wrung her hands together in embarrassment. "I… I told the Hyuuga council about both of you and how you helped me during the war. The thing is… they don't believe me w-when I say that you're both real. They think I might have hit my head too hard at some point and I might be crazy now, or at the very least that I'm lying to get extra attention. So… So they're demanding that I make both of you come to the Great Hall to m-meet them and so you can give them your version of my time in the war. If I don't bring the two of you with me, they're just going to assume I'm crazy…."

Kurama sighed, but then, with little to no warning, he suddenly began shrinking down to the size he had been throughout the entire time Hinata had come to know him.

"W-What's happening?!" she fearfully gasped.

"Relax, Woman! I'm just shrinking myself down to a size you can easily carry," the fox grumbled. "I'll make myself big again later. I gotta look somewhat tamable to those asses on the clan council when you present me."

"Oh, I see. That's smart," Hinata agreed.

As soon as he was small again, Hinata gently picked him up off the ground, and nestled him in her arms before allowing Usagi to hop up onto her open palm, and letting her rest on her shoulder. It would be a lie if Hinata didn't admit to herself that she was somewhat nervous as to what might happen. Usagi had been seen by Hanabi, Tenten, and her mother before she left for the warfront, not to mention Lady Anko and Orochimaru, but Kurama had never been seen by any humans other than herself throughout the entire war. She could only pray that for once in his life, he would at least try to be respectful when speaking to others. She needed him to make a good first impression on the elders of the clan.

With that thought in mind, she quickly turned and left the sanctuary of the clan shrine. She expertly weaved her way through the beautiful garden once again and lightly laughed when she noticed Usagi looking longingly at the small corner of the garden that was reserved for vegetables for members of the clan that enjoyed growing their own food. Despite being a spirit companion, Usagi was still a rabbit, and she loved a nice, juicy carrot as much as any other normal bunny.

"D-Don't worry, Usagi. I'll see to it that you and Kurama have a nice lunch later, okay?" said Hinata with a smile.

Usagi bleated an affirmative, but it was obvious from her expression that she wished to dine on those plump carrots right now rather than later.

After making their way down the many winding corridors in the Hyuuga estate, they finally reached the door that separated them from the Great Hall. Hinata hesitated for a moment as she considered how this introduction of her ill-tempered fox guardian and kind little bunny spirit companion would go over with the rest of the clan.

Would they like her two friends?

Would her friends like all of them?

Would Kurama or Usagi become offended and start snapping at the people inside?

She was very worried.

"Time waits for no one, Woman," said Kurama suddenly, having noticed that they had been stalling here in front of the door to the Great Hall for almost a full minute now as they waited for Hinata to find her confidence again.

Hinata jumped a bit from hearing his voice, but she nodded to him, knowing full well that he was right. Pausing only a moment longer to take a deep breath to gather her courage, she reached out to take hold of the doorknob, and slowly reentered the room.

It appeared as though people had been making idle chatter amongst themselves as they waited for her to return, but upon seeing their heiress slowly enter the room again with a miniature white bunny sitting proudly on her shoulder and carrying a small fox with bright orange fur and nine distinct tails protruding from its bottom, a sudden hush fell over the crowd. The clan elders in particular were taken aback. It appeared as though Hinata wasn't crazy and hadn't been lying. The fox and rabbit did indeed exist.

The Hyuuga princess ignored everyone's stupefied expressions, however, and made her way back to the exact center of the room before politely bowing to the clan council members.

"Honorable elders, fellow clansmen," she said courteously. "Please, allow me to introduce you all to my t-two friends and companions in my time during the war. This here is Usagi—" she gestured to the small white rabbit that squeaked happily on her shoulder "—the lucky spirit companion that my little sister Hanabi gave me before… before my failed matchmaking session with Lady Anko a few months ago, and this—" she nodded to the orange fox in her arms that was actively glaring at the clan elders, who were all immediately put off by the fox guardian "—is my guardian spirit that the clan ancestors sent to watch over me while I was away. The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit, Kurama."

There was a momentary pause as everyone simply stared at the two animals, unable to say or do anything. But it was actually Hanabi who broke the strained silence. Ignoring the small protests from both her parents and two older cousins, the sweet little girl hopped off her chair and all but skipped to the center of the room so as to get a better look at her big sister's two friends.

Usagi recognized her summoner immediately, and bleated happily upon seeing her approach. As soon as Hanabi was close enough, the tiny white rabbit hopped off of Hinata's shoulder and onto Hanabi's, and she hopped along the length of her shoulders in affectionate delight.

Hanabi giggled as the little spirit nuzzled her face against her own cheek. "Usagi! I'm so happy to see you again!" she exclaimed, holding out a hand and letting the small creature hop up on her palm so she could look her right in the eye. "Thank you for looking after my sister while she was away! Did you stay lucky for her during the war?"

Usagi happily nodded as she hopped up and down.

Hanabi laughed again at the rabbit's enthusiasm, and then turned her attention to the still silent fox in Hinata's arms, which had yet to stop scowling at everyone in the room.

For a little while, Hanabi didn't say anything. She just stood there in front of her big sister as she stared at the fox, who just glared at her return. In truth, Hanabi's silent staring was actually annoying Kurama, and he flicked his many tails a few times to at least get the pre-teen girl to blink, but Hanabi was unfazed by the action and just kept staring at him in wonder. Kurama wanted so badly to huff at her. Were all girls in the Hyuuga clan annoying?! He was just about to open his mouth to demand that Hanabi stop staring at him like that, but that was when Hanabi finally spoke.

"Adorable…" she whispered, a wonderstruck smile spreading rapidly across her face. "So adorable!"

And before Hinata could warn her little sister of Kurama's short temper or try to stop her, Hanabi lunged forward, seized the tiny fox from her big sister's arms, and hugged him tightly to her chest.

"So cute! So cute! So cute!" the little girl squealed as she snuggled the orange fox so hard while spinning around, he actually had to gasp for breath and became somewhat dizzy.

Usagi nearly fell off Hanabi's shoulder as she started bleating with laughter, and even Hinata had trouble suppressing her own giggles. To see Kurama being manhandled this way by Hanabi was far too amusing.

Unfortunately, Kurama did not share their sentiments. Shaking aside his momentary dizziness, he slapped the child's face with one of his many tails and even nipped hard at her hand. Not hard enough to draw blood or seriously harm her, but enough to get Hanabi to yelp a bit in pain.

"How dare you, you stupid girl! Release me at once!" he howled in anger.

Hanabi, and just about every other person in the room other than Hinata, shrieked in alarm when they heard Kurama speak. Hanabi obeyed his demand, though. With little to no regard to the fox's wellbeing, she literally threw him about three feet away from her in her momentary panic. Regret welled up inside the young girl when she heard him 'Oof!' in pain when he fell unceremoniously on his back with all four paws sticking up in the air.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Kurama! Are you okay?!" Hanabi gasped, rushing forward to see if he was indeed alright.

Before she could pick him up again to check him over, the fox bared his fangs at her and growled threateningly. "Girl, you try to pick me up and cuddle me again, and you will definitely be losing some fingers!" he warned.

Hanabi didn't get a chance to so much as apologize for accidentally dropping him, because within seconds, he starting to grow in size so that he was his usual adult form that Hinata had seen him as back in the clan shrine a few minutes prior. This action only succeeded in further scaring the rest of the clan, and many people screamed in terror.

"Hanabi! Hinata! Get away from that thing this instant!" Lady Hitomi suddenly shouted.

Without waiting for either of her daughters to respond, the Hyuuga matriarch literally leapt up out of her chair, and lunged forward toward the three of them. She seized hold of Hanabi's wrist, and dragged her several feet away from the still rapidly growing orange fox before trying to do the same to Hinata, but Hinata calmly removed her mother's grip from around her wrist when she tried to drag her away from her guardian.

"Mother, there's really nothing to fear. Kurama… Kurama j-just likes to taunt people and has a bad temper. He's never once hurt me, and he would never hurt Hanabi, let alone anyone else in the clan! Let me prove it to all of you!"

Ignoring the terrified expressions on everyone's faces, Hinata walked back over to Kurama with a smile on her face. She knelt down so that she was on her knees in front of the fox, and then allowed her hand to hover slightly in front of Kurama's mouth and nose.

"Hinata! Get your hand away from that fox's mouth!" Hiashi shouted, his voice laced with uncharacteristic concern for his child's safety.

"Father, everything's fine! Just look!"

People were still afraid, but to their amazement, Hinata was right when she said that there really wasn't anything to be afraid of. She waved her hand several times in front of Kurama's nose, but all the fox did was growl and roll his eyes in annoyance. Not once did he ever attempt to bite or scratch her hand. He was a little mean-spirited, but he was quite tame.

Finally, Kurama got annoyed with the constant hand being waved around his nose, and he shoved Hinata's hand away with a swat of his front paw. "Okay, you made your point, Woman! Stop that! It's annoying!"

Hinata obediently obeyed him, but then began petting his head and neck, still emphasizing her point to everyone that Kurama was harmless. The fox spirit rolled his eyes again, but still didn't do anything. At least this was enjoyable to him.

"It… It's not hurting you?" asked Neji, who was cautiously holding a kunai in front of him in case Kurama took off running in his general direction. If the fox did do that, he would not hesitate to protect his wife and the rest of his family.

"Of course not, Neji. Like I said, Kurama is my g-guardian. He would never hurt me, and he won't hurt any of you either. He protected me during the war. Ask him anything about my time at war! He'll back up everything I already told all of you."

The elders were watching the fox curiously from their places at the High Table. While the fact that the fox could speak and was able to grow and shrink at its own will was just as alarming to them as it was to everyone else in the clan, they couldn't deny that they were all fascinated by its presence. Hinata had a creature like this guarding and guiding her throughout her entire time in the war? The very idea of this simple thought brought forth many questions that desperately needed answers.

"Excuse me… Kurama, was it?" called out Lord Hideki. "May we have a moment of your time, Lord Fox?"

Kurama scoffed, but nonetheless turned his attention to the elders sitting at the High Table. "Don't call me Lord Fox. Just Kurama is fine," he grumbled.

"Our apologies, but we have questions for you, Kurama," said Lady Hotaru. "Things both about you and the ancestors in the clan shrine, but also about Lady Hinata and her time at war."

"I'm going to stop you right there. I'm not allowed to talk about the ancestor spirits in great detail," Kurama interjected. "I have rules I have to follow myself with the ancestors, and talking to all of you about them is a big no-no. I can tell you my perspective on your heiress's actions during the war, and translate anything the rabbit here says on what she thinks of the girl, but that's it, got it?"

The elders all frowned at this reply, but nonetheless nodded. While the idea that they wouldn't be able to ask too many questions about Kurama himself was disappointing, at least they could get fresh perspectives of Hinata's deeds from different sets of eyes that had also witnessed what she had done.

"Very well," said Lord Hideki. "Please, Kurama, tell us all about what you and the rabbit Usagi think of what Lady Hinata has done in the war during her time away."

The fox mischievously grinned. "Well, I suppose it all begins with how she screamed like the rest of you lot did when we first met…"

* * *

Naruto was amazed that hardly anything had changed in his old hometown in the ten years that he had been gone. Other than a few buildings having been built or torn down, or a few shops that he knew were new or had relocated to another area in the village, pretty much everything was still the same. People had aged, but they definitely looked familiar to the Namikaze lad. He was pretty sure that no one there recognized him after being gone for a full decade, but that didn't stop the boy from sending friendly smiles and nods to whoever he noticed had a familiar face.

Still though, that didn't deter Naruto from his original mission. He came back here again for only one reason and one reason alone, and that was to find Hinata. He had to return the red scarf he gave her back when they were kids, and find out if she honestly liked him or not. He didn't just leave his home in the Imperial City and abandon his new duties as the new head of his clan and the new acting General of the Allied Shinobi Forces just to be brushed aside by the shy Hyuuga princess. By the end of today, he was going to know exactly how Hinata thought about him, no matter what.

But before he could do that, he first had to locate the Hyuuga compound.

He had been wandering around the village for almost ten minutes now, but he had yet to figure out where the Hyuuga estate even was. He was on the verge of tearing his hair out. He was so close to Hinata, and yet still so far away. Where oh where was a map or a sign when you needed one?!

"Have I been down this way already?" the spiky-haired blonde mumbled to himself as he noticed the sign on a particular flower shop. "I'm pretty sure I've passed this place twice…"

As he stopped and looked around to try and figure out how he had ended up back here in the first place when he had walked past this shop almost ten minutes ago, the door to the flower shop swung open, and a certain platinum blonde-haired girl and her dark-haired, stoic fiancé strolled out. They were initially going to walk past the clueless ninja without so much as looking at Naruto, but then the girl happened to catch a look at his face, and she gasped in surprise.

"Naruto?!" she asked in amazement.

Naruto spun around only to be confronted with the excited face of Ino and the puzzled face of Sai. Naruto was confused upon seeing both of them.

"Uh… how do you know my name?" he asked curiously.

Ino smiled. "I'm Ino Yamanaka, and this is my fiancé, Sai! You probably don't remember us. Actually, scratch that! My fiancé doesn't even seem to remember you!"

Naruto stared in bewilderment as Ino turned to look over at her fiancé.

"You remember Naruto, right, Darling?"

The artist slowly shook his head. "No, and I have a feeling that me not remembering who this is will result in you yelling my ear off later," he said tonelessly.

The girl scowled momentarily before giving him a good swat upside the head.

"First of all, be nice! Secondly, this is the boy that once tripped and whacked into you while he was playing, and ruined that drawing you were doing that day we were at the park when we were kids. Remember now?"

For a moment, Sai still looked confused, but then his eyes widened as he remembered, and he quickly turned to look back at the still bewildered Naruto.

"Oh, yes. I remember you now. You were the idiot that ruined an ink drawing I was making of the park one afternoon. It's been a long time."

Naruto growled at having been called an idiot by the stranger that he didn't remember. "Hey! Don't call me an idiot!"

"My apologies, but you were running at top speed and not looking where you were going. That classifies as an idiot, in my experience."

"Again, be nice, Sai," Ino advised. Sai thankfully listened to her, and with him finally quiet, the platinum blonde turned her attention back to the other blonde standing in front of her.

"Sorry about him, Naruto. I love him to death, but he can come off as rude sometimes by accident."

"Uh… okay. Listen, not to be rude myself or anything, but I really don't remember either of you…"

Ino blinked upon hearing that, and then laughed.

"Maybe this will refresh your memory. You and I used to play together most days whenever your parents and mine met together, on the occasions when our two clans held meetings. Sometimes we'd go to the park and hang out with Sai here, but other times we'd play in the gardens of our clan compounds. My clan always has the prettiest flowers, hence why Sai and I are here right now. We were just closing my family's flower shop."

Naruto contemplated for a second as he thought back to his childhood before he and his family moved to the Imperial City, and then he abruptly remembered those afternoons. He and Ino had spent a lot of time playing together when they were kids, and just as Ino herself said, some days they played with Sai. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten all about that!

"Oh, I remember now! It sure has been awhile, Ino, Sai!"

"It really has! What brings you back to this side of the Fire country? I thought you and your clan moved to the Imperial City. Are you moving back here again?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Well… I came here to visit someone, but I haven't been back in so long, I'm kind of turned around. I don't suppose either of you know the way to the Hyuuga compound, do you?"

Sai blinked. "The Hyuuga estate? Yes, we know where it is. Who are you visiting there?"

"Hinata Hyuuga. We… We were comrades in the army together, and, well… she left something behind in the Imperial City. Someone had to return it to her, so… so I came here to give it back to her…"

Both Ino and Sai stared at him for a moment, but then Ino started laughing, and even Sai smirked.

Naruto's entire face burned. "Hey! I'm just trying to be nice! Can one of you just give me some directions?!" he all but yelled in his embarrassment.

"Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that," said Sai, his words sounding just the tiniest bit sarcastic. "Just remember to actually give Hinata whatever she so-happened to leave behind in the city when you meet her again."

Naruto growled, now beginning to lose his patience. "I'm _not_ lying! She really did leave something important behind!"

"Relax, Naruto. Like I said before, Sai has yet to learn when he's crossed a line," Ino laughed, actually brushing a tear away from one of her eyes. Then she turned and pointed toward a side street a short ways off. "Take that road over there and make a right at the second intersection. The Hyuuga compound will be the third building on the left."

Naruto nodded at the instructions, feeling more than grateful that he wouldn't have to keep wandering aimlessly through his old hometown for hours on end in order to find Hinata's clan. "Okay, thanks, Ino. It was good to see you again. I'd say the same to you, Sai, but you've officially gotten on my nerves."

Sai didn't seem to be the slightest bit perturbed by Naruto's rude goodbye, and merely nodded in return while Ino smiled pleasantly to the Namikaze heir.

"Good to see you, too, Naruto! Hopefully I'll see you again some time!"

Naruto nodded in return, and then wordlessly waved in farewell before turning around to follow Ino's directions to the Hyuuga estate. Ino had always been a loud mouth back when they were younger, but she was still nice. Sai, on the other hand, hadn't changed a bit. He was still the silent, sarcastic asshole he remembered him to be back when they were kids.

It was another ten minute walk for the impatient blonde-haired boy, but at long last, he spied the gates of what appeared to be the wealthiest compound in the entire village, and a smile quickly spread across his face. This had to be it! Beyond the walls of this estate had to be Hinata's home. He had finally made it!

He quickly picked up the pace. He was finally here. He would get to see Hinata again! This time, he was not going to act like an idiot. He was going to find out how she felt about him no matter what, and he was going to try to at least admit to her that he liked her. He wasn't going to let her run away again. Not this time.

He approached the main gates to the manor house, and quickly noticed that there was a Hyuuga guard standing around just outside the gate, grumbling angrily to himself.

"Typical, so typical," Naruto head him mumble. "Send a branch man out here to keep an eye out for guests while the great lady warrior tells her tale to everyone else in the family. Why not send someone from the main family out here to greet visitors? But _no_ it's, the branch family's duty to do the servants work!"

Naruto had to blink twice as he listened to the man whine to himself, but then he quickly cleared his throat.

"Um, excuse me?" he called out hesitantly.

The guard jumped nearly a full foot in the air as he spun around. "Oh, dear god! Honorable elders, I-I-I meant no harm at all! I was only talking! I— Oh, you're not someone from the main branch…"

Naruto shook his head, still a bit taken aback by the man's ranting followed by his over the top spluttering. Was nervousness common among everyone in the Hyuuga clan? If so, he could understand where Hinata got hers from. "No, I'm… I'm Naruto Namikaze. I was wondering if you could tell me whether or not this is the Hyuuga compound?" he slowly asked.

"Yeah, this is it. How can I help you?"

"Well… can you tell me whether or not Hinata Hyuuga has made it home from the war yet?"

The branch ninja blinked at the question. "Lady Hinata is here, yes. She made it back safe and sound. May I ask why you are calling for her?"

Naruto did his best to ignore the fire now burning in his cheeks. "Well, I was her platoon Captain in the war, and… well, she left something behind back in the city. I came here to give it back to her."

The branch ninja didn't say anything for a long moment. It was obvious that the boy in front of him came here to see his clan heiress in person, not just to return her lost property. He really wasn't supposed to let strangers into the compound without prior notice of their visit or without the clearance of someone from the main branch, but he and all the members of the branch family loved Hinata. He didn't want to deny her a visit from her friend — or perhaps someone more than a friend — just because of the clan rules…

Finally, the branch ninja motioned for Naruto to follow him inside. "She's currently in a meeting with the clan elders, but I'll go and check if the meeting is over. You can wait in the Entrance Hall in the meantime."

"Okay, thanks a lot!"

Naruto smiled as he followed the member of the branch family through the main gates. He would see Hinata any minute now. All he had to do was patiently wait.

* * *

"…and after the entire city bowed to her, the Hokage had the palace servants get her ready for the big party afterwards, not that the rabbit here or I attended. Afterwards, the woman basically told both of us that we were all going to leave the next morning, and we did, and now here we all are, answering all of your pointless questions."

Kurama smirked as everyone in the clan stared at him for a long moment after ending his own version of Hinata's epic adventure. Aside from adding a few details here and there, his story was basically the same as Hinata's had been, only it was being told in his point of view, and occasionally he had to stop and translate Usagi's details of the story. Other than having a foul mouth and causing a few brows to furrow in the room whenever he called Hinata 'woman' or 'girl,' he had nothing but the highest things to say about Hinata in his own story, and Usagi was just the same. Regardless of what anyone else in the clan might think, to the two spirits, Hinata was a hero, and they made sure to emphasize that point many times.

Finally, Lord Hideki motioned for Lady Hotaru and the rest of the elders to huddle together so that they could speak quietly for a moment, and the elders did so. Everyone watched with baited breath as they waited for the elders to finish speaking. What would they decide upon when it came to the fox? They had already declared that there would be no punishment towards Hinata, but what did they think of Kurama?

After a while, the elders all turned to address everyone in the Great Hall. "We offer you both our gratitude, Lord F— Kurama, Usagi" said Lady Hotaru. "Judging by what Lady Hinata herself has told all of us, and after adding in your own versions of the story, it is clear that if it hadn't been for either of you, there were certainly many instances in Lady Hinata's time away that she would have been killed, or her secret discovered. You have our utmost thanks."

"We know that your true 'home' is in the clan shrine, but we wish to extend a welcome to both of you to come and go throughout the compound whenever you wish," said Lord Hideki. "That being said, we have decided that your existences should be kept a clan secret. Outsiders should not know about either of you. Unless someone marries into the clan, you are to not reveal yourselves to those not of the Hyuuga clan."

"That works fine by us. Guardian rules dictate that we're not to reveal ourselves to clan outsiders anyway," Kurama said with a shrug.

The elders all nodded. That worked out nicely for them, and they all felt better knowing that the fox and rabbit were under their own set of rules themselves from their higher ups.

"Thank you for all you have done for Lady Hinata, Kurama, Usagi," said Lord Hideki. "We shall always be grateful, and if there's nothing more to add, then we can successfully conclude this meeting. All we have to add is this: Welcome home, Lady Hinata. You have been sorely missed, and we are in awe of the honor you have brought to our house."

Hinata couldn't stop herself from smiling as she nodded politely to the new male head of the elders. She was so happy to know that she wasn't going to be branded with the seal of servitude for the branch family or kicked out of the clan. She was still the clan heiress, but that meant little to her compared to being able to remain with her family. She could stay here with all of them for the rest of her life. That was all that mattered to her.

"Thank you for your kind judgment, honorable elders," she answered back. "I will do my best to bring further honor to the clan in the future."

"We are sure you will, Lady Hinata," Lady Hotaru said with a smile. "We are sure you will."

Hinata's smile only grew in size, but before she could say anything else, an excited squeal of delight escaped little Hanabi's lips, and the small girl darted across the room, and tackled her big sister in a hug that nearly knocked Hinata right off her feet just like when she first entered the compound through the main gate.

"Yay! The meeting is over! Let's go to the gardens now, Big Sis! I've got to tell you about everything that's happened here since you left! I've got so much to tell you!"

Hinata was helpless to her little sister's insistence to chat, and literally found herself being dragged past her two spirit companions toward the door. She was actually a little amused, to be honest. She had forgotten how much she missed Hanabi's energetic, playful persona during her time away from home. No one could make her smile as easily as Hanabi could. Her sweet, carefree little sister was the epitome of everything pure and innocent in this world.

"Hanabi, dear! Don't go and steal away Hinata all to yourself!" their mother gently chastised with a small laugh as she and the rest of their family got to their feet from where they had been sitting down, and they all began following the two sisters to the door. "All of us wish to spend time with your sister."

Hanabi furrowed her brows and huffed at her mother's words, but nonetheless obeyed them and stopped dragging Hinata long enough to wait for all of them to catch up. Even Kurama and Usagi trotted alongside them, both of them eager to leave the room now that they were no longer needed. As soon as their parents, two cousins, and the two animal spirits were finally with them again, the small girl pushed open the door and started to drag Hinata behind her again out into the hallway, walking somewhat slower this time so that the rest of their family and Hinata's animal friends could still walk alongside them.

As soon as they were all out of earshot of the inhabitants in the Great Hall, Hinata let out a deep breath of relief she hadn't even realized she had been holding in. "That… That was nerve wracking," she breathed.

Kurama rolled his eyes. "You faced the great snake traitor Orochimaru without so much as breaking a sweat, and yet you were panicking during a simple meeting? I wish I understood you, Woman…"

Tenten was actually amused by his sarcastic words, and couldn't help but laugh. "He's right, you know, Hinata. You actually came across as firm and confident when you stood up to the elders! You're not the same girl that left here four months ago, and I mean that in a good way!"

Neji nodded at her words. "Tenten is correct, Lady Hinata. You were in control of that conversation with the elders, not the other way around, and you didn't stutter or pause in your sentences nearly as much as you would have in the past when addressing them… when addressing anyone, actually. You speak much more clearly now."

Hinata blushed and turned her head away shyly. "I… I learned to believe in myself and have self-confidence while I was away… D-Don't get me wrong! I still stammer from time to time, but… but I suppose I _do_ speak clearer now."

Hiashi firmly nodded at her words, but the faint traces of a smile were creeping at the corners of his lips. "You still have much to learn when addressing members of the Hyuuga council, but you did well in there, Hinata," he declared. "I am very proud of you for how you spoke your mind. You will make a fine clan head one day."

Hinata smiled widely as she looked up at her father, the one person who she had sought the approval of in the past while growing up. "Do you… Do you really mean that, Father?" she whispered. "And did you really mean what you said back in there, t-that… that you are honored that I'm your daughter…?"

"I would not have said it if I did not mean it, Hinata," he told her, with no trace of hesitation in his words or on his face. "You brought great honor to our family, but that means little to me compared to your safety. I am glad you have returned home safe and sound."

"Your father is right, Hinata," Hitomi added with a kind smile, actually stopping to sweep a loose strand of blue hair behind Hinata's ear. "Honor and glory? That means nothing to all of us. We love you for who you are, and nothing will ever change that. We're all so happy you are home again."

Hinata blinked away the traces of tears that threatened to appear in the corners of her eyes. "Thank you, Father, Mother…" she said. "I… I'm happy to be home again, too."

Her mother embraced her in a warm hug as her father clapped a hand on her shoulder. Tenten didn't hesitate to join her aunt in the loving hug, and Neji smiled as he nodded kindly. Kurama was scoffing as he pawed the ground in front of him, impatient to keep moving, but he was smirking in approval while Usagi bleated happily from atop Hanabi's shoulder as she bounced excitedly in place with a cheerful smile on her cute little face. As soon as Hitomi and Tenten let go of Hinata, the little dark-haired girl started tugging on the hem of Hinata's flak jacket in order to get her attention.

"Okay, Hinata! I know you probably edited down your story so that it was okay for the stuffy old elders to hear, but you gotta tell me everything that happened in detail, okay? For starters, why did you bring home a sword when you should have brought home a man?! Considering you lived and trained with other guys for months on end, you should have caught the attention of at least one, right?"

Hiashi and Neji both stopped and gave Hanabi stern, matching looks of reprimand for her words, but Hitomi and Tenten immediately laughed, while Usagi bleated on Hanabi's small shoulder and Kurama smirked.

Hinata, however, just flushed bright, bright red as her thoughts immediately turned to the certain blonde, spiky-haired hyperactive shinobi that she had grown to love with all her heart while she was away at war.

"H-Hanabi! What… What're you—"

"Oh, you are out of the meeting with the elders, Lady Hinata?"

The group turned. Standing behind them was the branch ninja that had been ordered to guard the main entrance to the estate. He was nodding politely to all of them, but his gaze was focused solely on Hinata. He clearly had something very important to say.

"Can we help you?" asked Tenten kindly.

The branch ninja nodded. "There is a visitor for Lady Hinata. He is waiting in the Entrance Hall to see her."

"Tell him to come back tomorrow," Hiashi ordered. "Hinata has only just come back today. She deserves to spend one day reconnecting with all of us."

Hinata was about to nod in agreement to her father's words, but before she could do so, the branch ninja went on.

"My apologies for contradicting you, Lord Hiashi, but Hinata might want to come and see this guest right away," he said bravely to the head of the clan. "The guest introduced himself as Naruto Namikaze, her squad Captain in the war. He said he has something important to give her."

Hinata's family all blinked before turning to look at her.

Kurama concealed an amused laugh with a distinct cough.

Usagi hopped up and down in joy.

Hinata's entire face flared a bright shade of red.

Naruto… Naruto had followed her home from the Imperial City… Why? She thought he was only interested in her as a mere friend, and nothing further. Why would he come all this way just for her? And what did this branch ninja mean when he said that Naruto had something important to give her?

"I… I'll s-see him immediately…" Hinata said slowly.

"Very well. This way, Lady Hinata."

With a polite nod and bow to her family and her two spirit friends, Hinata followed the branch ninja to the Entrance Hall of the compound at a snail's pace, her thoughts too jumbled and confused to give her the sense to try and walk any faster. The idea that Naruto had seemingly followed her home from the war was enough to make her head spin.

It wasn't until after she turned the corner in the hallway behind the branch ninja that Kurama flicked one of his many long tails back and forth to get everyone's attention.

"I'll be rejoining the other statues in the clan shrine if any of you need me," he declared, having seen too much of Hinata's fawning over the blonde idiot over the course of the war to be interested now. "Are you coming, Rabbit?"

Tiny Usagi bleated an affirmative. With one last nuzzle of her little furry face against Hanabi's cheek, she hopped down off the small girl's shoulder, and landed on top of the fox guardian's head. The orange fox growled, annoyed as usual with the rabbit using his head as a means of transportation, but for once he kept his mouth shut, and trotted off down the hall to the clan gardens without another word.

The humans left behind had to blink twice at the sudden disappearance of both Hinata leaving to meet her guest and the two animal spirits that had left them as soon as she was gone, but then Hanabi out of the blue started skipping down the hall in the direction that Hinata had gone in.

"Lady Hanabi? Where are you going?" Neji called out.

Hanabi giggled as she twirled around, a mischievous smile adorning her sweet face. "I'm going to see Big Sister's friend! It's not every day that a _boy_ comes here asking for her! Who knows, maybe if he's handsome, I can be the Hyuuga representative in the next war! I want a cute husband someday, too, you know!"

And ignoring the looks of disbelief on the faces of her parents and two cousins, Hanabi spun back around, and continued skipping along down the hall.

Hiashi in particular had a stern look on his face. It was one thing accepting that his eldest daughter had gone against tradition by becoming the world's first female ninja, but it was an entirely different matter to learn that Hinata might already have a suitor from one of her army comrades, and it certainly didn't help his case that his youngest child thought that the whole idea was one big game. No man was going to so much as consider a courtship with either of his children before he met them first.

And with that thought in mind, Hiashi swept down the hall after his two daughters as quickly as he could on his crutch without uttering a single word.

Hitomi recognized the overprotective fatherly look on her husband's face before he left, and couldn't help but chuckle slightly in amusement before she turned to face her niece and nephew.

"We better go along, too. The gods only know that your uncle will probably scare that poor boy away without thinking twice about it should we not follow."

"I agree, Aunt Hitomi," said Tenten, giggling herself at the very notion. "Lor— I mean, _Uncle_ Hiashi can be very frightening at times."

"It's a good thing he is, too," commented Neji, his eyes narrowed in displeasure at the very idea that Hinata had a visitor of the opposite gender. "Lady Hinata is not an ordinary girl. She is special. She deserves the very best in terms of marriage."

"You have yet to even meet him, Neji. Don't go judging someone before you have the chance to know them," his aunt gently reprimanded.

Neji bowed his head apologetically. "Yes, Aunt Hitomi. You are right. I apologize."

"Let us go and see this young man. Perhaps Hinata going away to war will have brought not only honor to this family, but a husband, too!"

Tenten laughed again as Neji's eyes grew colder at the very idea of that happening, and then the two of them followed Hitomi down the hall after the other members of their family.

* * *

Hinata was too flustered to speak as she followed the branch ninja down the many winding corridors of her childhood home. Could… Could she maybe be wrong? Was Naruto perhaps a common name? What if this was simply someone else who wanted to play a cruel prank on her? She was starting to get used to the idea that she did indeed matter in this world, but if this was someone's idea for a twisted practical joke… it wasn't like she didn't understand why they would do this to her. For years, she had considered herself to be a worthless failure. Just because she was trying to not see herself that way anymore didn't mean that other people in the village or even in her own clan had completely changed their opinion of her.

But when she at last followed the branch man into the compound's Entrance Hall, she was shocked to see that it really was Naruto, sitting down on a small chair and examining a beautiful painting of a lush forest as he waited to see her.

The branch ninja cleared his throat to get his attention, and Naruto immediately jolted in place before turning to look around. Upon seeing her there, standing shyly behind the cadet family member, he quickly leapt to his feet.

"Hinata!" he gasped, feeling more than a bit stupid upon realizing that he couldn't think up a single thing to say to her. "I… Uh… You… Hey!"

Hinata found herself blushing so hard, she was quite certain that she was as red as a ripe tomato. "N-Naruto…" she whispered, too nervous and shocked to say anything else as she stepped forward further into the room to see him better.

The branch ninja politely bowed to the shy princess before quietly taking his leave to resume his post at the entrance of the compound gates, but neither Hinata nor Naruto paid him any mind as he left. The two of them only had eyes for each other, and they stared at one another with bright red cheeks, both of them too embarrassed to be the one to break the awkward silence and be the first one to speak up.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Naruto nervously chuckled as he scratched the back of his neck. "It's… It's good to see you, Hinata. I'm glad to see you made it home safe and sound," he said.

Hinata squeaked a bit from hearing those words, but she nonetheless nodded. "Thank… Thank you…" she whispered back.

More silence filled the air between them, neither of them able to find the words to express what they both wanted to say.

Naruto wanted to ask Hinata what she might possibly feel for him…

Hinata wanted to ask Naruto why he had come all the way here just to see her, when he had made it clear back at the party that he only saw her as a friend.

Both of them hesitantly opened their mouths to try and ask these questions, but neither of them got the opportunity to speak, because another voice suddenly cut through the air.

A child's voice, to be exact.

"Big Sister! Is that your boyfriend?!"

Hinata never knew she could squeak so loudly, but upon hearing those six words, she found herself blushing harder than she thought it was humanely possibly to do as she whirled around. Standing at the entrance to the room was dear little Hanabi, looking oh so mischievous what with that cheeky grin on her sweet face as she stared at her older sister standing in front of the handsome blonde stranger with the whisker-like scars on his cheeks.

Naruto was spluttering at the unknown little pre-teen girl standing a few feet away that had asked such an embarrassing question, but before he could say or do something — anything, really — Hinata was already turning away from him to run toward the small child with matching pearlescent eyes to hers.

"H-Hanabi! What… What're you—?!"

"He's really cute, Hinata! Sign me up for the next war, okay? I want someone who's just as handsome as he is for a husband one day when I'm older!"

Hinata's head was reeling from hearing her sweet and innocent sister talking like this, and before she could try and stop her, Hanabi was darting around her in order to run right up to Naruto and examine him from head-to-toe.

Naruto had never felt so bewildered in his life as he found himself being circled around by a little girl at least five or six years younger than he was. She was scrutinizing him from top to bottom, but at the same time appearing to be wonderstruck by the very appearance of him. Just what the hell was going on?

Finally, Hanabi came to a stop directly in front of him again with a satisfied look on her face, and she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "Hi there! My name is Hanabi! I'm Hinata's little sister! Are you going to be my new brother?!"

Naruto looked as though he had never been asked such a question before, and Hinata was just about ready to fall over in utter shock from the embarrassment she was experiencing. Hinata loved Hanabi to death, but why oh why did she have to say such a thing?! How would she ever be able to _look_ Naruto in the eye again after this, let alone be able to say more than two words to him?!

"Hanabi! D-Don't go asking such a q-question to someone you… you only j-just met!" she spluttered, not even caring that she had fallen back into her old habit of stuttering after every couple of words due to how embarrassed she was.

Hanabi turned and cheekily stuck out her tongue at her. "Be quiet, Big Sis! I'm conducting a thorough interrogation of your boyfriend here!"

"B-Boyfriend?! I… I… I…"

"So tell me, sir! Did Hinata invite you to come down here to see all of us, or did you come on your accord? Have you fallen in love with my big sister yet, or do you merely have a crush on her so far? And do you—"

"That is enough, Hanabi. You are embarrassing your sister."

Hinata jumped and spun around. Standing behind her was their father, who was giving Hanabi a scolding look for her childish behavior, but Hiashi's eyes were locked solely on Naruto, seemingly appraising him on mere looks alone. He wasn't alone, either. Coming in from out of the hallway was their mother and Neji and Tenten. Hitomi appeared to be amused by the entire situation as she tried to conceal a small laugh behind one of her hands. Tenten was overall curious about their guest as she tried to peer around Hiashi to get a better look at Naruto, and Neji was moving to stand in front of Hinata like an overprotective big brother as he stared the blonde boy down. It didn't matter whether or not Hiashi ended up approving of their guest. Neji would not leave Hinata alone in Naruto's company should he find him dishonorable.

Hinata flushed as she saw the rest of the members of her family file into the room. She hadn't anticipated Naruto following her home from the war after that last conversation they had shared at the grand gala in the Imperial Palace the night before she left the city. If she hadn't foreseen this, how could she have ever imagined introducing the boy she had unrequited feelings for to her family?

She opened her mouth to say something — anything — but Hiashi was already moving past her on his crutch to all but loom menacingly over Naruto, who looked more than frightened to have caught the attention of such a stoic and imposing man.

"I am Hiashi Hyuuga, the head of the Hyuuga clan. I understand you are here to see Hinata, my eldest daughter. Who may I ask is calling for her?" he asked in a stern tone.

Naruto fought the urge to gulp. Forget Orochimaru and his band of Sound Ninjas. Hinata's father had to be the scariest man he ever met!

Remembering his manners, Naruto forced himself to bow before him and the other members of Hinata's family. "Hello, sir! I… I'm Naruto Namikaze, the new General of the Allied Shinobi Forces and the heir to— I mean, the new head of the Namikaze clan."

Hiashi raised a brow. "The new General of the army and head of the Namikaze clan in the Imperial City?" he repeated.

Naruto hastily nodded, trying to ignore the small bead of sweat that was running down his temple. "Y-Yes, sir. My… My father Minato was the previous clan head and General of the army, but he… well, he died during the war, so his responsibilities fall to me since I'm his only heir."

"Hmm…"

For a long moment, no one spoke as Hiashi continued to study Naruto and Naruto continued to sweat. Hinata had never realized she could become so nervous over a simple introduction. Did her father not like Naruto? Did he disapprove of him? Even in the one in a million chance that Naruto could ever like her a quarter of the amount that she liked him, if her father disapproved of him, there would definitely be no future for the two of them. Her father held the final word over her relationships.

Finally, Hitomi suddenly laughed, and the tense silence was broken.

"Honestly, Hiashi! You are scaring the poor boy! Whatever happened to offering a warm welcome to our guests?"

The woman, who was all but an older carbon copy of Hinata what with her beautiful indigo-colored hair, turned to face Naruto with a warm smile and a polite bow. "Please excuse us for this discourteous welcome, Lord Naruto. I am Lady Hitomi, Hinata's mother. You have already met my husband Hiashi and my second daughter Hanabi, and this is my nephew Neji and his wife Tenten, Hinata's cousins. If I remember correctly, you are the General that wrote to us about Hinata's delay in returning home."

This was the first time Hinata had learned this particular tidbit of information, but before she could say anything at all, Naruto was quickly bowing to the Hyuuga matriarch. "P-Pleased to meet you, Lady Hitomi!"

"The pleasure is all ours, Lord Naruto!" Tenten exclaimed with a bright smile. "You took care of Hinata during her time in the army! It is our honor to welcome you to our compound! Right, Neji?" she added as an afterthought, turning to face her husband.

"Yes, welcome," said the stern member of the branch family, his words oozing a sarcastic tone and his eyes just as sharp as his uncle's were. Just because his wife, aunt, and youngest cousin had taken a shining to Hinata's guest didn't mean he had to. He would be just as firm as Hiashi was when dealing with Naruto. After all, the blonde-haired shinobi had yet to earn his uncle's approval. Only if he managed to win Hiashi's approval would Neji consider giving Naruto a chance.

Naruto was immediately put off by Hinata's stern cousin. Whereas Hinata's pearlescent eyes made her look friendly and kind, Neji's eyes showed that he was not someone to be trifled with. If Naruto was remembering correctly, Hinata's male cousin was supposed to be some sort of prodigy in the art of the Gentle Fist. He made a mental note to never get on this man's bad side. The last thing he wanted was to have to fight at some point with the ninja standing before him.

Hinata decided to take this break in the conversation to cut in. "N-Naruto? You… You wrote to my family at some point?"

The hyperactive shinobi jumped at the suddenness of her words, but then realized what it was that she had asked him, and nervously chuckled. "Oh, yeah… I just figured that your family should know what happened to you during your fight with Orochimaru and that you were unconscious. I hope I didn't cross a line or something!" he quickly added.

Hinata's entire face flamed red as she vehemently shook her head. "Oh, no! N-No, no, no! Of course not! That was a nice thing you did! Thank you. I was just surprised to learn about it, that's all…"

"Thanks for sending us that letter, Lord Naruto! It was good to hear that Big Sis was okay! But you never answered any of my questions!" Hanabi piped, still bouncing about excitedly as she gazed up at Naruto. "Why'd you follow Hinata all the way here from the Imperial City? Are you in love with my big sister? Did you forget to ask her to marry you before she—"

Naruto's whole face became bright red, but he was mostly ignored compared to the way that Hinata, with a face as red as a cherry, flew forward in order to slap her hand over Hanabi's mouth, preventing her from speaking any further.

"That's enough, Hanabi! Please don't ask any more questions!" she begged.

Hanabi giggled behind her sister's hand. She didn't appear to be the slightest bit ashamed of her embarrassing questions.

"I beg of you to forgive my youngest daughter, Lord Naruto," said Lady Hitomi, a smile still on her face as she addressed their guest, but she was still shooting Hanabi a somewhat disapproving look out of the corner of her eye. "She's a bit immature, but she's truly sweet when you get to know her."

"Please, don't call me 'Lord' Naruto," Naruto abruptly said, trying to force himself to stop blushing as he spoke to Hinata's mother. "Just plain 'Naruto' is fine. I've only just gotten used to the idea that I'm in charge of everything now that my dad is gone, and I'm still not used to being called a 'lord' yet."

"Ah, I see. Well, we are all pleased to make your acquaintance, Naruto."

"Same here, Lady Hitomi!"

Naruto seemed to have gotten over the brunt of his nerves while speaking to Hitomi, and had no trouble flashing the woman a genuine smile as he casually extended pleasantries. He was trying his best to sound formal, but he just had this casual charm about him that made people like him regardless of his lack of formality. Hinata couldn't help but smile herself when she saw him grinning, and let go of her grip on Hanabi in order to give him her full and undivided attention. Naruto's smile was infectious. One smile from him was enough to make her smile all day.

Hiashi noticed the glowing smile suddenly spreading across his eldest child's face. In the past, Hinata had never smiled like this before. It appeared as though Hanabi wasn't too far off the mark with her nosy questions.

"It is getting late," Hiashi suddenly declared. "Would you care to join us for dinner?"

Everyone blinked twice at the invitation, especially Hinata. She wasn't entirely sure that she had heard him correctly. Her stoic father was inviting Naruto to have dinner with all of them? Her mother extending the invitation she would understand, but her father? Was this his way of trying to test him further?

"Uncle, I thought we were going to have a quiet family dinner tonight," Neji protested, trying to keep his words polite and not rude considering that they were all still in Naruto's company.

"I think it's a grand idea!" Tenten exclaimed, her response the exact opposite of her husband's as she kept on smiling at Naruto. "It would be nice to get to know you better, Lor— I mean, just plain Naruto!"

"Yeah! I have more questions to ask you, Future Brother!" piped Hanabi.

Both Naruto and Hinata's faces flared scarlet again.

"Hanabi! Enough! No more making outrageous statements like that!" Hitomi said sharply.

"Sorry, Mother…" the little girl said apologetically.

Hitomi nodded in approval, and then faced Naruto again. "Please, join all of us for dinner, Naruto," she said. "We would all be very interested to hear Hinata's story from a fresh set of eyes."

Naruto bit his lower lip nervously, and then turned to face Hinata. "Is… Is this okay with you, Hinata?" he asked.

Hinata shyly nodded. "Yes… Yes, you should join us for dinner," she whispered.

Naruto smiled wholeheartedly again. "Okay then, Lord Hiashi, Lady Hitomi! I'll accept your offer! I'd love to join you for dinner!"

Hinata blushed even harder. Naruto was going to join her family for dinner! Never had she imagined that she would one day share dinner with Naruto while at the same table as the rest of her family. Oh, this would most certainly be one of the most awkward dinners of her entire life, taking a place right on the same list as the night her father decided to be the Hyuuga representative in the war, and when she had had dinner with all the ladies in the Kage royalty.

"Wonderful! Come with me, Big Sis!" Hanabi suddenly chirped, lunging forward in order to seize hold of Hinata's arm. "You come along, too, Tenten! We gotta get Hinata looking nice for dinner with her future husband!"

Hinata started sputtering in disbelief as she tried to avoid making eye contact with Naruto. Why did Hanabi insist on saying these embarrassing things?!

"Hanabi! P-Please! Don't say things like—"

"Excellent idea, Hanabi!" Tenten interrupted, grabbing hold of Hinata's other arm. "We'll see you all at dinner then, everyone! Especially you, Naruto! We all look forward to getting to know you better!"

And before anyone could say anything else, Tenten and Hanabi whisked Hinata right out of the Entrance Hall and back in the direction of her bedroom as the shy girl peeked over her shoulder at the red face of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed ninja she loved so much.

* * *

After her sister and cousin-in-law had helped Hinata to change out of her father's flak jacket and Neji's baggy ninja apparel and into a somewhat dressier than usual light purple kimono with a dark purple obi, they had all joined her parents, Neji, and Naruto in the formal dining room for when the family had guests for dinner. The three had bowed politely to the four who had been waiting for them before taking their seats in the beautifully crafted dark wooded chairs around the long, matching dining room table, and then the branch family members came into the room from the kitchen, laden with the dishes they had prepared, and everyone began to eat.

As the meal commenced, Hanabi jabbered away more questions at Naruto all about Hinata, and to the older girl's immense relief, her questions were more about the war itself this time and not about anything embarrassing. Her little sister wanted to know everything that she had done while she was away. Was she a pro at training right from the start? Was she a klutz on the warfront like she had always known her to be? What was the avalanche like that she had set off? Did she really destroy the entire Sound army with only one kunai?

Naruto happily answered her questions one at a time as he ate his meal, and even when Neji, Tenten, or Hitomi added in their own questions occasionally, he was pleased to explain Hinata's actions in the war from his perspective. Neji was slowly thawing from his cold exterior as he saw that Naruto really did seem to be a nice guy, and Tenten and Hitomi had already seemed to like him from the moment they spied him in the Entrance Hall. Naruto just had this aura that drew others to him simply by being himself.

Hiashi on the other hand was more curious about Naruto himself, and asked questions regarding Naruto's family and clan. These questions Naruto had more trouble answering. For one, he was nervous of messing up his chances at Hiashi liking him, and although he didn't brag, he did want to make a good first impression on Hinata's father. The other problem was that he was reluctant to talk too much about his parents. It was difficult to talk about his father since he was still mourning him and it pained him to talk too much about him still, while his mother's past he just tried to skim over. The last thing the hyperactive boy wanted was for Hinata's family to judge him or his mother simply because they were descendants of a clan that had double-crossed the country years ago.

Thankfully, Hiashi seemed to only breeze over these facts, and eventually he too began asking questions about Hinata's time in the war just like the rest of the family. Apparently he was satisfied with the little Naruto had told all of them about himself and his family.

Hinata spoke only when necessary over the course of the entire meal. She was too nervous to speak too much. Her mother, sister, and cousins seemed to like Naruto, but she had no idea what her father thought of him. Did he like Naruto? Did he not? What could he possibly be thinking? Surely he liked him a little bit, right? He wouldn't have invited Naruto to join them for dinner if he didn't…

Just as the plates were being cleared away and the branch members were inquiring if anyone was interested in having dessert, Hanabi piped up again.

"So Naruto, why exactly did you come all this way from the Imperial City just to talk to Hinata?" she asked. "The branch ninja that announced your arrival said you had something you wanted to give her! Where is it?"

Hanabi's innocent question about the reason for Naruto's unannounced visit was something everyone at the table, including Hinata, had all but forgotten about, and they all immediately turned to Naruto expectantly.

"Yes, why exactly have you come all this way to see my eldest daughter?" Hiashi inquired, his eyes cool and inquisitive as he studied the shinobi sitting a few seats away from him.

Naruto's cheeks tinged red, but he still managed to find his voice and speak clearly. "Well, someone had to return Hinata's scarf to her! I volunteered!"

Hinata froze. "My… My scarf…?" she repeated, her words no louder than a tentative whisper.

Naruto nodded, and then bent down in his chair to collect the bag of supplies he had brought with him from the Imperial City that he had left by the legs of his chair. He rummaged about inside it for a few moments, but then pulled out the familiar red wool garment that Hinata had treasured ever since she was but a very small child.

"You left this behind in the guest room in the palace back in the Imperial City. I know how important it is to you, so… so I knew I had to come and give it back to you in person…"

Hinata couldn't move as she stared at the simple item Naruto was carefully holding in his hands. She had left her scarf behind in the city because she had wanted to move on from Naruto. Taking it home with her would have only made it harder for her to get over the heartbreak the blonde boy sitting in front of her had unintentionally caused. It was second nature to Naruto to be kind to others, but just looking at the red wool scarf he had given her back when they were children was causing her unimaginable heartache once again.

Still though, Naruto didn't know how she felt. He had come all this way out of the goodness of his heart as a dear friend. It would be undeniably rude of her not to accept the scarf and thank him for bringing it home for her.

"T-Thank you, Naruto," she said, gently taking the scarf from him and holding it gingerly in her hands. She was unwilling to say anything else, though, and quickly took a sip from her cup of tea. Telling him she hadn't realized that she had forgotten it back in the city would be a lie, after all.

Hanabi blinked curiously when she saw the seemingly ordinary piece of clothing, but then a thought occurred to her, and her pearlescent eyes twinkled. "A red scarf! That's so cool! It's kind of like the red string of fate between the two of you! Right, Hinata?"

Of all the embarrassing things Hanabi could have said, she said that — the one thing that could have ever made Hinata literally start choking on her tea in complete disbelief and embarrassment.

She wasn't the only one who was mortified by Hanabi's words. Naruto's entire face flamed red again, and her mother looked as though she had never realized what a troublemaker Hanabi could actually be if she put her mind to it.

"Hanabi!" Hitomi exclaimed, sounding utterly dumbstruck by what her youngest daughter had just said.

"What, Mother? I was just making a comment!"

"Nonetheless, Hanabi! There are certain things that you do not say—"

"N-Naruto! Would you b-be interested in seeing the c-clan gardens?!" Hinata suddenly exclaimed as she all but leapt to her feet, too embarrassed by the direction in which this conversation was taking to stay in here any longer. She didn't care how much she was stuttering as she spoke. She needed to get herself and Naruto out of here right now.

Naruto himself was pretty sure he looked like how Hinata generally looked on a daily basis what with how hard he was currently blushing. Was being this embarrassed by simple conversation how Hinata had felt everyday while she was pretending to be 'Hiro' Hyuuga in the army? No wonder she was always anxious to have time to herself every now and then. He quickly nodded to her flustered question, also anxious to get out of here right away.

"Yeah, s-sure! That… That sounds great, Hinata!" he said at once.

"Okay, then! F-Follow me please!"

As the mismatched couple stood up from their places at the table, they both bowed respectfully to Hiashi and Hitomi.

"I… I will speak with both of you again later, Mother, F-Father…"

"Thank you for dinner, Lord Hiashi, Lady Hitomi! It… It was very nice!"

And with that being said, Hinata seized hold of Naruto's hand with the hand not still clutching her precious red scarf close to her chest, and then literally dragged the boy behind her out of the room with a scarlet face.

As soon as they were both gone, Tenten lightly giggled. "Well, they do seem to be a perfect couple, don't they?" she commented. "They both seem to get overly embarrassed quite easily."

Neji scowled. "Please do not joke around like that, Tenten," he asked. "It is hard enough to accept the fact that Lady Hinata is an accomplished warrior now. Adding a man into the mix is difficult for me to wrap my head around."

"Oh, lay off it, Neji!" Hanabi chirped, flashing a beaming smile at her older male cousin. "Hinata deserves a bit of happiness in her life! And Tenten is right! They really are a perfect match! Where Big Sis is calm and quiet and shy, that Naruto seems hyperactive and loud and upbeat! It's an opposites-attract couple! Like I said before, that red scarf is like the red string of fate between the two of them!"

"Hanabi, just because you think those things doesn't mean you should go ahead and say them out loud," Hitomi gently reprimanded. "You embarrassed both your sister and our guest."

"Okay, okay. I'll remember that in the future."

There was a momentary pause, but then the small girl jumped up from her chair, and started hurrying toward the door leading out to the hall.

"Hold it, Hanabi. Just where are you going?" said Hiashi.

"I'm going to see what happens between Hinata and Naruto! Don't worry! I won't say anything to distract them or embarrass them this time! I'm just going to watch them!"

And with that, the small girl skipped merrily out of the room in the direction of the clan gardens.

* * *

Hinata's mind was reeling as she led Naruto into the clan gardens. Now she knew exactly how Naruto felt when she met his mother back at the gala the night before she left the Imperial City. Her family seemed to like Naruto well enough, but she was quite embarrassed by what they had said while in his company. She was especially embarrassed by Hanabi. She had always known that Hanabi was a bit of a stinker, but to go ahead and ask Naruto whether or not he was going to be her new brother by marrying Hinata and saying that the red scarf that he had returned to her was like the red string of fate that intertwined their destinies together… she had thought for a moment that she was about to faint from shock. She only prayed that Naruto didn't think poorly of her now after hearing everything that had come out of Hanabi's mouth.

It wasn't until they were deep in the clan gardens and out of sight of anyone who might be watching them from the windows of the main house did she finally stop walking as she released her grip on Naruto's hand, and turn to face him with tinted pink cheeks.

"I… I'm s-so sorry for all the things my sister said, Naruto…" she said shyly, her face growing hotter and hotter with every passing second. "Hanabi has always been outspoken and childish, but I never thought she would say things like that to you…"

"It's okay, really," Naruto insisted, but judging from the redness in his own cheeks, he was just as embarrassed as she was about everything that had just happened. "I'm sure siblings do crazy stuff like that sometimes… It was actually pretty funny, to be honest!"

"Oh… okay, then."

The two were silent for a time as they walked further into the gardens side by side, enjoying the early evening air as fireflies started twinkling in the darkness. There was a lot that they needed to talk about, they both knew, but neither of them had the guts to be the first one to speak up and begin that awkward conversation. The longer that dreaded talk was put off, the better.

They eventually came to Hinata's favorite spot in the clan gardens, the marble bench underneath the cherry blossom tree that Hinata had sat under several months ago while her family tried to cheer her up from her failure with Lady Anko. Hinata quietly took a seat on one end of the bench while carefully arranging her red scarf neatly on her lap as Naruto sat down beside her on the other end. The pinkness in the petals covering their heads was just beginning to fade away. Pretty soon, the flowers would all turn pure white for a time before they too died away, but right now, the cherry blossom tree was still in its prime form as it flowered with beautiful pink petals. Hinata couldn't help but feel lucky that she got to see the tree as it was one last time this year before all the pretty pink blossoms died away to pure white.

For a little while, neither of them spoke. They just sat there in awkward silence as they watched the fireflies dance about over the watery surface of the garden pond. The tension was so thick, it was all but unbearable, and eventually, Hinata couldn't stand it any further and literally forced herself to speak.

"Why did you come here, Naruto? It wasn't just to return my scarf. You… You could have mailed it back here if you were so worried about it…"

Hinata's whispered words seemed to echo in the calm stillness of the evening air, and it was a long time before Naruto found the resolve to respond.

"You invited me, remember? You said it yourself back at the party. I was always welcome here."

"B-But you said that you wouldn't come by and visit for at least a few more months. You said you would be too busy with… with your n-new duties as the new General and as the head of your clan."

"I made some arrangements with Sasuke and Gaara to take over my duties as General for a few weeks as I swung by. As for the stuff with my clan… the elders weren't too happy with me, I'll give you that. They're temporarily running everything while I'm gone."

"You're still n-not answering my question, though. Why did you bring my scarf back? I… I need to know…"

Hinata needed a direct answer out of Naruto. Why did he come all this way just to give her scarf back to her? She didn't know what his answer would be, but a part of her that still loved him was desperately hoping he would say that it was because he had grown to like her as more than simply a friend. Deep down, though, she knew that was simply wishful thinking. Naruto had made it clear that night at the party in the Imperial Palace that he only saw her as a friend, and nothing further. It was silly of her to think that his feelings would have changed during the short time between then and now.

But Naruto needed direct answers of his own out of Hinata. He didn't follow her here all the way from his home in the Imperial City to not receive any type of indication of what Hinata felt for him in return. He'd answer her question in a minute. He had questions of his own that he needed answered, first.

"Well, why'd you leave it behind in the first place?"

Hinata blinked at the unexpected question, and she quickly turned to face Naruto with a surprised look on her face.

"P-Pardon?"

"Why'd you leave it behind in the Imperial City, Hinata? If… If it had been any other item in your knapsack, I would have considered your leaving it behind to be an accident, but you left the scarf behind. I gave that to you as a present back when we were kids. Why'd you leave it behind?"

Hinata was silent for a moment as she considered how to answer him, and her eyes were downcast and sad as she stared down at the red scarf on her lap. She wasn't one to be frank about her feelings, but what was the point in hiding the truth about this from him? It didn't matter anyways in the end. Naruto didn't share her feelings. If she really wanted to move on from him, perhaps the best course of action was to just be honest with Naruto over how she felt about him and then let him politely reject her… knowingly this time. When he rejected her back in the Imperial City, it was obvious that he didn't understand what it was she was talking about. Letting him properly reject her confession was probably the only way she would ever be able to move on from him and find someone else to fall in love with again one day.

"Because… Because when I first received it as a child, I considered the boy who gave it to me to be my f-first love… And that same boy rejected me back in the Imperial City. I thought… I thought it would help me to move on if I left it there for that boy to find…"

For the longest time, Naruto did not say anything. He just stared at Hinata in awe upon hearing her words, not that Hinata noticed. She was oblivious to his expression, and continued to stare sadly at her lap.

"I know I'm silly to still hold onto a childhood crush, b-but you made an impression on me that day when we met as children, Naruto. You were… You were so kind to me, and you didn't care that I was quiet and shy. I kept your scarf so that I would never forget you, so I would n-never forget the little boy who had saved me from bullies… When we first met again that day of the fight at the training camp, I remember thinking that you reminded me of that boy, but I wasn't entirely sure. You do look a little different now with those whisker-like scars on your face, so… so I tried not to compare the two of you together, but as t-time went by and we got to know each other over the course of training, I started to like you for entirely different reasons. You're always so kind and brave, and you have no trouble saying exactly what you feel. And that day when we were h-heading up to the front lines and you told me that you were looking for the girl you had given your scarf to back when you were a kid, I realized that you were the same boy from back when I child. I… I was so happy… I wanted to tell you the truth about who I was right then and there, I swear— but I w-was afraid… I was afraid of what you would do if you found out the truth of my gender… Not that it matters at all anymore. I k-know you only see me as a friend, Naruto, and I'm okay with that. You don't have to make me feel better by saying anything right now. I'll get over this in time, I'm sure. I just don't want this t-to end our friendship…"

More silence reigned between the two of them, and the longer that it stretched on, the more depressed Hinata became. Why wasn't Naruto saying anything? She was sure he was shocked to know how she secretly felt about him, but couldn't he at least reject her heartfelt confession politely? Just a simple, 'I'm flattered to hear that, but I'm afraid I don't feel the same way,' would suffice. Just a polite refusal, that's all she wanted. It was what she needed to hear in order to try and move on.

"For someone who is usually so shy and quiet, you sure do talk a lot. Who said I ever intended to reject you back at the palace?"

Those were the last words Hinata ever expected to hear right then, and her head snapped up in utter shock. She quickly turned her head to calmly ask Naruto to please repeat himself, but she never got the chance.

The second her head turned to face him, his lips captured hers in an innocent, tender kiss.

On the contrary to what people believed of him, Naruto did have a few brain cells in his head. Upon hearing everything that Hinata had just told him, he knew that he needed her to know that he felt something for her in the same way that she felt something for him. The trouble was, he wasn't too good with words, and he knew that he would never be able to verbally express what he felt to Hinata in a way that she would understand.

So, he did the next best thing.

He _showed_ her exactly how he felt.

He liked her. He liked her a lot.

Hinata's heart was hammering so hard in her chest, she was surprised that she hadn't already gone into an anxiety-induced cardiac arrest. Her mind was a big, jumbled mess of thoughts. Naruto was kissing her. He was actually _kissing_ her… The very thought was enough to make her cheeks burn red hot under the tender touch of his rough, calloused hands. Before she left to join the war, she had had childish fantasies about loving Naruto, the sweet boy who had given her his scarf back when they were both children. He had been a bit of an idolized idea of love, but he had still been a nice dream. Now, after actually getting to know him during their time in the Allied Shinobi Forces, she knew what true love felt like, and those warm, tender feelings were welling up inside her, bursting with joy. She was too surprised and nervous to kiss him back, but she did allow herself to enjoy the feeling of his lips pressed on hers. She never wanted this moment to end. If she were to die right now, she would die a very happy woman.

Eventually, Naruto pulled himself away from her, and he saw that Hinata was flushing so hard, her entire face was on the verge of turning a permanent shade of crimson red. Not that he was any different. The blonde boy was quite sure that if he were to look in a mirror right now, he would look just the same as her. His whole face felt like it was on fire.

"I never meant to make you think that I was rejecting you back at the party, Hinata. I just misunderstood what you were asking me… I like you, too! I want to see you as often as I can once I get the hang of running the army and running my clan!"

Hinata didn't know at what point she had fallen asleep, but that was the only logical explanation in her mind as to what was currently happening. Naruto… Naruto liked her. She had only dared to hope in her dreams that he would ever say something like that to her…

It was all too much for the shy, innocent Hyuuga princess, and her eyes rolled up in the back of her head as she lost all consciousness.

* * *

"Oh, yeah! Way to go, Big Sis!" Hanabi quietly cheered from her hiding spot in the clan shrine as she watched Hinata and Naruto kiss. "You've got that guy right under your thumb!"

Usagi squeaked and hopped up and down in joy, but Kurama just rolled his eyes as he watched. When Hanabi had quietly sneaked in here and explained to the two of them that she was spying on her sister and the blonde idiot, Usagi was more than happy to join her summoner in watching her mistress's alone time with the boy she had fallen in love with during her time away from home, but Kurama had been reluctant to watch. Human courtship rituals had never once caught his interest in the past, so why should it now? In his opinion, humans took far too long in their courtships. They should just mate and be done with it. That's how it was for foxes. All very straightforward. Why couldn't humans be the same way? That didn't stop Hanabi, though. Stubbornness ran in the family, it seemed to Kurama, as it was evident by the way the little girl had all but dragged him off his old pedestal to watch. She wasn't one to take 'no' for an answer.

Hanabi held the orange fox securely in her arms as she watched Naruto slowly end the kiss between himself and Hinata, and she couldn't help but smile even wider.

"I'm happy for her, you know?" she exclaimed quite suddenly. "Hinata has always been such a good person, it's high time that she got something in return for always being so kind!"

Usagi made a small squeak of agreement from her viewing point on top of Hanabi's shoulder, but Kurama just huffed in annoyance.

"Tell me again why this is my problem?" he demanded. "Your sister's love life is of very little interest to me."

"Because you're Big Sis's guardian, silly!" Hanabi giggled uncontrollably. "You're her friend, that means her business is your business, but more importantly, that means that from now on, you and little Usagi here are my accomplices in crime! Whenever that guy comes around to visit Hinata, the three of us are always going to get together to spy on them!"

"What?! What the hell for?"

"Because it's boring to spy on an older sibling all alone! I love Neji and Tenten to death, but they're both too old to partake in spying like me! From now on, you two are going to be my friends just as much as they and Hinata are! I don't have too many friends outside of the clan, so I don't care how rude you are, Kurama! You're my friend from now on just as you are Hinata's friend!"

Usagi bleated again in joy, but Kurama actively groaned. It was bad enough being the guardian for a girl who was so shy and had such low self-esteem issues, but being the babysitter to her hyperactive, somewhat bratty little sister? Everyone had a set of standards that they lived by — even spirits and guardians, and this was finally the point where he put his paw down and lived by those standards!

"Now see here, you little brat! I most certainly am _not_ going to be—"

He was cut off when all three of them saw Hinata suddenly faint from embarrassment right into Naruto's arms.

They all watched as the goofy smile on the blonde idiot's face quickly morphed into a panicked expression.

"Hinata?! Hinata?! Oh! Oh, sweet crap! What's wrong?! Are you breathing?! Please don't be dead! What happened?! Oh… Oh, god! I gotta get you back to the main house somehow!"

Despite witnessing Hinata faint and Naruto panic at being the cause of it, Hanabi simply burst out laughing.

"Oh, silly Hinata! I haven't seen her lose consciousness like that in years!" she exclaimed.

Usagi tilted her head to the side curiously while Kurama gave her a quizzical look.

"This has happened before?"

The little girl giggled in reply. "Of course it has! I remember when I was little Hinata would faint all the time when she got too embarrassed! I thought she outgrew the habit! She must _really_ like Naruto if she fainted like that after a kiss! She's too shy for her own good!"

There was a momentary pause while Hanabi watched as Naruto struggled to try and readjust her older sister's limp body so that he could try and carry her bridal style back to the main house. But then the small child gently picked up Usagi from where she was perched on her shoulder, and set her down gently on the ground.

"I better go help them. Naruto looks so overwhelmed that he might faint next! I'll see you both later, Kurama, Usagi! We'll play more then!"

And with that, the dark-haired child scurried out of the shrine and down the stone steps in order to rush over and help the blonde in moving her sister back inside.

Kurama sighed as soon as she was gone. "Damn, that girl! I thought Hinata herself was a pain, but now we have to deal with her stupid little sister? Geez… what is this world coming to?!"

Usagi made an indignant squeak at his words. She was loyal to her summoner just as she was loyal to her mistress. If Kurama thought he could get away with badmouthing either of the two sisters while in her presence, he was sorely mistaken!

"Oh, knock it off, Rabbit! I mean the kid no ill will! I'm just tired of dealing with humans in general. The point is, it's all over now! The woman is finally a hero, you're the new family awakener, and I've got my old job and powers back. Everything is finally as it should be."

More squeaking resumed.

"What do you mean, there might be another adventure?!"

Bleat. Bleat. Squeak. Squeak.

"Damn it! Don't go making any predictions about the future, you overgrown fur ball! You don't have that power! Nothing is set in stone yet! And even if it was, you can bet your bottom dollar that I won't be involved! I'm done with wars and fighting for at least another few decades!"

More angry squeaking.

"What?! You wanna fight?! Let's go!"

As the fox guardian and the little rabbit spirit companion wrestled each other on the floor of the shrine, the evening light faded away completely so that the stars in the sky twinkled about merrily. Kurama was right about one thing. Nobody knew anything about the future. Who knew what the fates still had in store for the Hyuuga clan.

But in particular, for one misfit Hyuuga heiress.

At this point, only one thing was for certain.

Hinata Hyuuga was not born to be ordinary.

The gods had great plans for her.

Oh, yes. Very great plans indeed…


End file.
